#because it's basically a whole ass oneshot

[skiesuconn]

love & basketball

paige bueckers & azzi fudd യ summary: just a little oneshot i wrote. basically p and az just playin a pickup game. p being a pain in the ass, and just a classic. literally love & basketball. 2k words (i think). യ notes: enjoy your friday, my loves. go for a walk, get some sunlight. and rest that beautiful mind of yours. happy reading!

it all started because azzi wanted something sweet.

not crave like a sudden need. more like the day had draped itself over her in layers of warmth and memory, and she just wanted something to cut through it. something cold. soft. maybe with strawberries. maybe not.

so they’d taken the detour.

now they’re walking slow, blizzards in hand, sugar cooling on their tongues, the sky bruised with the end of day.

azzi’s cup sweats in her hand, soft and steady, like it’s slowly letting go of itself. her fingers shine with it, that gentle melt, familiar now

she chose brownie temptation, of course. even after five whole minutes of staring at the menu like it might offer her a new life. even after all the “hm”s and “wait”s and the half-step back like she’s not sure.

paige had teased her, soft and close, shoulder nudging shoulder. something about decision fatigue, about being painfully predictable.

“how do you still not know what you want?” she’d said, grinning.

azzi had ignored her, like always. like she wasn’t smiling.

now paige’s rocky road is long gone, cup crushed lazily in her palm. she’s been crunching the last bits of chocolate shell between her teeth like it’s a sport.

gravel soft underfoot. azzi’s curls a little sticky at the edges from the breeze and the heat and the way paige kept looking at her like she was sunlight filtered through honey.

“you happy now?” paige asks, voice all sunlit and teasing. she nudges azzi with her elbow.

azzi doesn’t answer right away. instead, she scoops a bite of her blizzard and gently holds it out to paige, lets her taste it like that — spoon to lips, no warning.

“oh yeah,” azzi finally says.

paige licks the spoon clean. “mine was better.”

azzi shrugs, slow, like she’s too full to argue. “whatever.”

she tosses her cup toward the trash can up ahead, flicks her wrist like she’s pulling up from three. it arcs, perfect. hits the rimless bin with a soft thud and disappears. all net. even though there’s no net.

paige whistles low. “i can do that”

she squares up, feet shoulder-width, dips into her midrange bag—tight pocket, high release, classic follow-through.

cup bricks off the side.

she blinks. “nah run that back.”

azzi grins. “i think you need stronger prescription’”

‘’you are an idiot’’

‘’you are an idiot’’

paige spots something, squints against the sun that’s spilling across her face. “hey, there’s a court,” she says, pointing past the trees. and sure enough, half-buried in the green, a cracked little court where a group of boys are hoopin' like they’ve got all the time in the world. the ball slaps against the backboard. someone yells for a screen. it’s not much, but it feels like everything.

paige looks at azzi, waiting.

“i don’t have kicks,” azzi says, glancing down at her slides, all glossy and wrong for the court.

“you can wear mine,” paige offers, already undoing the laces.

azzi raises a brow. “and you’ll use your hands or...?”

azzi laughs, loud, open, unbuttoned. it catches in paige’s throat, lodges there, warm and aching.

“barefoot,” the older girl says, like it’s obvious. “i’m like that.”

her hand stays in paige’s, intertwined . and then, a kiss, featherlight to her knuckles. slow, reverent. like azzi’s trying to say something she doesn’t have language for, so she lets her mouth speak instead.

they sit on the bench at the edge of the court, letting the sun soak into their skin, watching the boys run their game like it’s the championship. a llake glints behind them, blue and blinding. it smells like fresh sap and leftover sugar, and the wind lifts azzi’s curls just enough to make paige look.

paige shrugs off her hoodie, arms bare now, the hem of her shirt lifting with it, just a bit. enough.

azzi sees. of course she sees. she tries not to, but her eyes betray her.

paige grins, already knowing. “like what you see, huh?”

azzi smacks her shoulder. “you’re so obsessed with yourself.”

“right, rightttt,” paige says, dragging it out like she’s not smug as hell.

paige bends down, starts unlacing her sneakers to hand them over. the same size, a quiet miracle neither of them ever talks about. azzi slips her foot into one.

“thanks,” she murmurs.

“should i take off my socks too?” paige asks, one brow raised.

azzi doesn’t even blink. “yeah, no. nobody wants to look at those.”

paige just stares, mouth open.

azzi smiles, all fake innocence. “i’m joking.”

she kisses her, mid-laugh, presses their mouths together. halfway through, she whispers against paige’s lips, “okay i’m not.”

paige pushes her by the shoulder, smiling like a fool.  the world sways gentle,  just them, the cracked court, and the faint sound of piano spilling from an open window down the street, notes drifting like fireflies in sunlight.

laughter breaks out sharp, not theirs.

some neighborhood kids, all cocky grins and busted-up sneakers, wander through the chain-link gate like they’ve been here forever. two of them pass a ball between them like it’s breathing.

“wanna run threes?” one yells, voice cracking in the middle.

brave, but not stupid. he knows who they are.

“hellllll yeah.”

paige doesn’t even blink. smiles at the younger girl.

like she’s been waiting for a reason.

azzi touches her arm, light and grounding.

“go easy on them,” she says, but there’s a flicker in her eyes, warning, maybe. or care. same thing.

paige leans in just enough to tap azzi’s lower back, fingers quick.

“you mean go easy on you?”

azzi’s team gets sorted, the kid they stick her with is taller than her by at least an inch, arms like wire, limbs still figuring themselves out. he’s quiet, but his eyes are sharp.

paige clocks it instantl.y

azzi doesn’t give her the satisfaction.

just mutters, “all that talk. he’s gonna dunk on your ass.”

and it’s not even a whisper. it’s meant for her, only her.

paige shrugs, playful.

“i got you a blizzard, az.”

middle finger, low by her hip. clean. practiced.

paige catches it. winks, like it’s the best thing she’s seen all week.

they call 1s and 2s. first to 15.

sun melting through the trees, all drowsy gold and biting heat. the blacktop is warm enough to hum. there's sweat already sliding down azzi’s neck, sticking to her chain.

paige’s hand’s on the ball like it belongs to her.

like she belongs here.

she tosses it over to azzi, light, easy.

it thuds against her palms, and she barely looks up before tossing it back.

just a rhythm between them now.

the taller boy’s already spaced out on the wing, waiting. on paige’s side.

she grins, teeth sharp, eyes hooded.

“let’s hoop.”

ball swings left. she dumps it off to the boy. azzi’s guarding him, low stance, arms wide, eyes locked. paige’s already moving. sets a screen, shoulder firm. azzi goes under, fast, but not fast enough.

the kid takes the bait. hard dribble, jab step. steps back, sells it like he’s gonna shoot.

azzi bites. just for a blink.

he kicks it.

quick drop to paige.

she catches it off balance but still finishes off glass.

clean. unfussy.

she daps him up near half-court, low and snug.

leans in real quick, not loud, just enough.

“pick her pockets and i’ll give you some KD’s.”

he says “bet” without even blinking.

other side. now azzi’s teammate’s got it.

he’s calm, light on his toes, dribbling toward the arc. paige is on azzi again. tight. too tight.

forearm brushing hers. feet nearly stepping on hers.

azzi tilts her head, smirking just a little, like she knows something.

“you can’t get enough, huh?”

paige breathes out a laugh. doesn’t give her the satisfaction.

“lock in.”

but her eyes are only on her.

the shorter kid’s guarding azzi’s boy, staying grounded, hips low, pestering him without touching. real defense.

azzi stays patient. keeps her hands on her knees like she’s chillin’. then, snap. she cuts hard to the paint. one sharp step like lightning down her spine.

he sees it. no hesitation.

threads the needle.

azzi catches and lays it in, smooth, like it was always supposed to happen.

paige’s jaw flexes.

1–1

she mumbles under her breath as she walks past, just for azzi:

“lucky.”

azzi doesn’t even look at her. just cups her hand to her ear, still backpedaling like she’s listening for the wind.

what? say it louder.

paige exhales through her nose, trying not to grin.

that was hot.

score’s 14–13. game to 15. paige up, barely.

azzi’s teammate jogs the ball up, relaxed. lazy dribble, like he got all the time in the world. but azzi’s already shouting:

“screen, screen, left side!”

her voice cuts through the heavy air, sharp. she sees it coming before it happens, dude steps into paige’s hip like he’s setting a brick wall. textbook. dirty.

paige slams into him, half-spins, arms flailing like windmill defense.

“yo! moving screen, that’s a foul!”

no whistle. no ref. just excuses and pride on the line.

azzi doesn’t wait. she slides out to the wing, shoulder twitch to shake her defender.

one-two step.

catch.

lift.

pure.

that jumper’s poetry. wrist snap so clean it’s like she knew it’d drop before the ball even left her fingers.

swish. not even rim. air don’t dare touch it.

azzi doesn’t celebrate normal.

she turns, slow and smooth, smile like honey laced with venom.

blows paige a kiss across the court. casual. criminal.

like she didn’t just steal the win.

paige catches it instinctively, fingers curled like she’s gripping something sacred.

throws it back, flick of the wrist, lip caught between her teeth, breathing hard, chest rising like she’s still fighting the screen.

she’s grinning. but her eyes? her eyes are locked. heat behind them. something simmering just below that smartass facade of hers.

“you’re annoying as hell,” she mutters under her breath, loud enough for azzi to hear.

azzi doesn’t miss a beat.

just jogs back past her, chin high, voice light like it ain’t the end of the world.

“game.”

paige’s jaw ticks.

“you hit that just to piss me off, huh?”

azzi shrugs, all faux-innocence, already untying her hair, curls falling loose like punctuation.

“don’t crashout.”

paige watches her walk away, long legs, slick shoulders, that bounce in her step like she knows she got the last word.

got the game.

got her flustered.

got her feeling 16 all over again.

they meet at half-court.

palms slap, a sharp, echoing sound swallowed quick by the trees and the hush of late-summer evening. the sun hovers low. there’s sweat clinging to both of them, staining the edges of their shirts, beading down azzi’s neck like honey.

but paige doesn’t look away.

not from her face.

not from the pink flush on azzi’s cheeks or the way her dark curls stick to her temple.

azzi meets her eyes like it’s a promise, teeth brushing her lip before she lets it go slowly but sure, like she knows what she’s doing.

she slaps hands with the boys, laughter slipping from her like she’s still high off the win, but she doesn’t look at them.

she keeps her eyes on paige.

they drift to the bench, not really speaking. their steps match up. always do.

azzi’s calf brushes paige’s shin. on purpose or not, it doesn’t matter. the contact sets off a tremor anyway.

paige grabs the water bottle, gulps like she’s dying.

azzi watches, eyebrows raised, chest still rising and falling in post-game rhythm.

"there’s barely any left," she says flatly, already reaching.

her hand curls over paige’s and yanks it free.

“bro,” paige says, eyes wide.

azzi tilts the bottle, drinks like it’s nothing. like she didn’t just snatch it from her hand.

“you’re a child stuck in an adult’s body.”

paige wipes the back of her mouth, leans back on her palms.

“i bench more than you.”

“no, you don’t.”

“yeah, i do.”

azzi doesn't even turn. “no you don’t.”.

“you played unfair,” paige mumbles, dragging her fingers over the concrete like she’s tracing shapes she doesn’t know how to say.

azzi shrugs. “and you played along.”

that pulls a quiet scoff out of paige. “did i?”

azzi’s looking at her again.

studying her.

lips, eyes, breath.

like she’s remembering something with her whole body.

paige swallows.

azzi looks away.

a tap lands on her shoulder, one of the boys they played with. a little shy, like the game shook something loose in him.

"can i get a pic?"

he’s looking mostly at paige, but not in that weird way. just… like he’s seen something cool and wants to hold onto it.

“for sure,” paige says, brushing dirt off her thighs as she stands. “can azzi be in it too?”

he nods fast, suddenly excited again.

azzi steps in. something in the air leans in, warm and weightless.

paige’s hand settles on azzi’s ass, almost casual, the other arm thrown around the boy’s shoulder. azzi stiffens for half a second, then softens.

the photo clicks.

paige smirks. “tag me as the winner, aight?”

the boy laughs. “i gotchu.”

azzi rolls her eyes so hard it looks rehearsed.

“you’re a loser,” she mutters under her breath as they sit again, legs nearly touching.

but she doesn’t move away.

paige’s arm is around azzi’s shoulder, loose, but not without intention. her fingers trail absent circles on azzi’s upper arm, like her body doesn’t know how to be still when azzi’s near. azzi’s head rests on paige’s shoulder, curls grazing collarbone, brushing the line of her neck. soft and ticklish.  she smells like spf and sugar, and whatever lotion she used that morning still clinging to her, still her.

paige tips her head down, nose wrinkling slightly. “you smell,” she says, a half-smirk in her voice.

azzi doesn’t move. doesn’t even blink. “your hairline is receding,” she says, calm and dry, like it’s fact. (it really is)

paige scoffs, soft and theatrical. “what’s with the attitude?”

azzi shifts, just barely, the edge of a grin pulling at her mouth. “the people are worried,” she replies, then adds without looking, “you started it.”

paige turns her head. azzi does too. they move like magnets, like they’ve done this before in a dream. blue meets brown. no one blinks.

paige leans in, slow. not dramatic. 

azzi meets her, steady. one hand rises, cradles paige’s jaw like something delicate. the other hooks a finger into the chain around her neck, tugs gentle, just enough to bring her close.

they kiss.

soft. certain. summer-sweet. colorado springs all over again.

azzi’s mouth curves against paige’s like she’s smiling into it. paige’s heart stumbles and then rights itself.

when they pull apart, paige grins, dazed and dumb.

“you almost choked me there.”

azzi’s fingers still on the necklace. her eyes shining like polished amber.

“you almost deserved it,” she says, and her voice is velvet with mischief.

and they laugh.

because they mean it.

and because they don’t.

[formerlycookierunauprompts]

AU Ficlet #2

woah, my fiftieth written for this blog... Thank you all for sticking around by the way! Without further ado, it's all under the cut.

CONTENT WARNINGS : Allusions to cannibalism, cults, religious imagery.

“ Don’t you ever feel like you’re… trapped here?” It was an odd question coming from Calla Lily Cookie, one that caused Blueberry Milkshake to immediately turn his attention to his work partner for the day. “ Hmmm…. Nope! But what do you mean by that, Calla Lily Cookie?” He asked, tilting his head as he pondered Calla Lily’s question. Trapped here? In Meringue Village? No, he could never be trapped in a place that was his home. “ O-Oh, it’s just that…” She turned her head away, back to the jelly bush she was tending to. “ Have you ever wondered what’s beyond our little village? I mean… I know we live on a continent called ‘Beast Yeast’ but surely it can’t all be monsters, right?” “ Who knows,” He chirped, going back to his own place picking apple jellies from the trees. “ But there’s probably still a lot of monsters, we’re only safe from them because of the prophet’s barrier around the village.” He replied, briefly contemplating taking a bite out of one of the apple jellies he was holding… But he decided not to, he wasn’t feeling all that hungry anyways. He looked back over to Calla Lily, she still seemed troubled by something. “ Still thinking about what’s outside, hm?” He asked, leaning on the tree branch. He only spoke again after getting Calla Lily’s nod of conformation. “ Well, you should probably go talk to Mystery Cookie then. They go outside all the time! Well, other than our leader and the prophet.” She turned away. “ I’ll… keep that in mind.” She replied as she went back to tending to the jellies. Meanwhile Blueberry Milkshake turned back to look into the apple jelly in his hand. Should he eat it after all? I mean, it’s just one apple jelly, what’s the harm that could be done? And yet he still pauses, would the leader approve of him taking a bite of this apple? Sure, it was one of many, but she knew about almost everything that went on in the village. He wouldn’t get any closer to the promised land if he took a bite out of this apple. And yet, it was so tempting to do so. But why? Why was it so tempting to attempt to fall out of line? To just… take a bite? He wanted to know, and yet he couldn’t.

 _ - - _

Maybe he should have taken a bite of that apple back there, witches know that it would be better than his current situation. Here he stood, right in front of the prophet’s door. His heart was pounding from both anxiety and a mix of something else… Because who wouldn’t when you have to go face to face with someone like Marshmallow Fluff Cookie? She was, well, for starters she was a lot bigger than the other cookies, and that was pretty intimidating. And not only that but she was blessed with holy knowledge from the witches. There was also the fact that she was, in Blueberry Milkshake’s opinion, rather pretty. So, having to interact with a tall, scary yet pretty woman was rather reasonably, a heart-pounding experience. “ You may come in,” He could hear her from beyond the door, so, with only a moment of hesitation, he opened the door and stepped inside. There were few times that Blueberry Milkshake ever saw the prophet outside of her room, and that was usually during meal times, or the occasional day where she left her room to wander around near the forest. The latter were the more, well, carefree times he’d been around her, and dare he say that they got a bit close during then. Though sometimes… it feels like they’ve interacted more than they have. He looked up at her, noticing the white roots of her fluffy pink hair were showing. He’d noticed that she tended to, well, chew on her hair sometimes. And whenever she got healed whatever amount she’d chewed off would grow back white. She turned to him, brown eyes like chocolate scanning him before signaling him to come in further and shut the door behind him. “ How have you been, Blue?” She asked, twisting in her seat, a cushion on the floor, to lay on her stomach. Her smile, unlike the practiced, melancholic one she had around the other members of the village except for Mystery Cookie and himself, was rather genuine. He considered it a rather nice smile. “ I’ve been… good actually!” he chirped out the lie, or well, the half-lie. If he were to be honest then, well, everything had been rather monotonous. Rather… boring, if you asked him. But how could he starve off his boredom if Meringue Cookie’s watchful eye followed him almost everywhere? He watched the smile on her face drop into melancholy for a moment, the mood around them turning more serious. Marshmallow Fluff then held out something in her hands, revealing it to be a small, blue colored apple jelly. “ I want you to take this, and eat it when you’re ready. I know it’s not much, and that it’s your decision… But I…” She trailed off, like a book that never got finished. “ … Nevermind, just take it.” And so, he listened, he took the apple from her hand. He was almost tempted to take a bite right now, almost. But the time wasn’t right, or maybe he was just afraid? Afraid of the unknown? Who knows…

 _ - - _

It was supposedly, a normal day within Meringue Village. A perfectly normal day where Blueberry Milkshake didn’t have any tasks to do for the village. Which meant that he could pretty much do whatever he wanted for the day. Most of the time, he spent these days at home or near the forest surrounding the village. It had been seven days since Marshy(his nickname for Marshmallow Fluff Cookie) had given him the blue apple jelly, seven… quite odd days. For instance, he began to… notice a lot more things. For instance, when he was working with the foraging crew and watching one of them get patched up, he swore he could see two, thin scars on one of their backs. When he asked about it… well, they apparently didn’t know those scars even existed. Even thinking that he was playing a prank on them. There was also the fact that his nightmares got… worse? Well, he was having them more frequently. These nightmares involved some strange jester that looked like him, who always, always looked at him with disappointment. And yet, somehow he could tell that the jester aimed its disappointment at itself as well. It was always just them, together in a black void. That was, however, until the apple jelly began to appear in them. The apple jelly always appeared in the jester’s hand, and the jester always offered it to him. “ Come on,” The jester would say, a grin blooming on its face “ Aren’t you tired of being trapped in this… pathetic, powerless, unknowing form?”  He’d never respond directly to the jester, either flinching away or, more recently, hesitating to take the apple jelly before he woke up with it in his hands. He’d always consider eating it after waking up, but never did. In fact, he kept it hidden on his person at all times, not even telling Meringue Cookie about the apple jelly. He feared that it’d be taken away from him if he did tell her. He sat on a fallen tree trunk, staring at the apple jelly in his hand. It seemed to glow in the dim light of the forest. Should he eat it? Should he not? He didn’t know and that bugged him. Would he know if he took a bite of the apple jelly? Would he still be left in the dark? Would he- “ Blue?” “ GYAH!” He shrieked in surprise, jumping in his seat. He turned around to face Marshmallow Fluff Cookie, who stood behind him with a mildly concerned expression. “ Witches sake- You scared me halfway to death!” He briefly scolded her, listening to her amused giggle put him at ease though. Silently, he invited her to sit, which she did. “ So… You still haven’t eaten it yet?” She asked, a mixture of curiosity and something else that Blueberry Milkshake couldn’t recognize on her face. The look in her eyes was expectant, as if she’d predicted that he’d eventually give in and eat the apple jelly no matter how long he resisted. And she was right, had she not interrupted him then he would have taken a bite. “ I mean…” He attempted to come up with an excuse, even though what he was about to say wasn’t really one. “ It’s a gift from you, right? I don’t want to just eat it and be done with it…” He said, staring down at the blue apple jelly in his hands. “ I know that you told me to eat it… and I think that I might be ready to… yet.” He trailed off, looking to her for support. A gentle smile graced her face. “ I think you should eat it,” she encouraged him as she gently pushed up his hands to raise the apple jelly. He stared at it for a moment, considering her suggestion. It wouldn’t hurt, right? So ever so slowly, he takes a bite. And afterwards? Everything hurts. 

He yelps with pain, dropping the rest of the apple jelly and clutching his head. He could feel the knowledge that the fruit contained worming its way inside. There were names, faces, events that had all been taken from his head to create the shell that was himself, Blueberry Milkshake Cookie. Who was originally just an identity played and changed for the sole purpose of worming his way into high societies just to see them crumble with a few lies told here and a few truths told there. He could feel traces of his former magic rushing back into him, the essence of his soul jam. It burned under his dough and yet it felt all too right for it to be there. The burning sensation was soon replaced by a more cold, yet not chilling sensation. Like escaping from the heat by taking shelter in the shade. He drops to the ground, onto his knees.  “ Blue! Are you alright?” He can hear Marshmallow Fluff call out, with her racing to his side. He can see the apple, he’s so close to knowledge, to understanding. He reaches for it yet Marshmallow Fluff takes it from his reach. “ Hey, hey, take it slow, understand what you know right now before jumping in further.”  It was good advice, advice he couldn’t help but listen to. So he took a moment to breathe, to try and process the information that was flooding into his mind. His name, his real name, was Shadow Milk Cookie. One of the former heroes of Cookie kind that fell from grace due to the corruption that came with his forbidden use of dark magic and his unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Formerly, he embodied knowledge, but now he embodies deceit. He was a member of the formerly named five heroes, now named the five beasts. And, he was currently incredibly small compared to his true height. And another thing, he was currently sealed into this form. This… tiny, weak and pathetic form. God he can understand why the mental him looked at him with such disappointment, he was just an empty shell that had none of the greatness he did. He could feel a reassuring pat on the back, oh right, Marshmallow Fluff Cookie was still here. He looked up to her, remembering their real first meeting. He’d found her near the border of the village, and she was rather… interesting to him. Mainly due to the fact that there was some kind of strange power nestled within her. Over time, they’d surprisingly gotten closer. Close enough for Shadow Milk to sometimes forget his original goal of finding out what that power in her was. Though, maybe he should have listened to her when she said to never come to her village, no matter what. Maybe then he would have never gotten his magic and soul jam stripped from him in the first place… but how did that happen?

She let him finish the apple now, and the increase of knowledge didn’t hurt like it did the first time. His mind filled in the blanks in his memory once he finished chewing. Oh, oh. That’s why his instincts told him to be afraid of Meringue Cookie, not only was she, to quote Marshmallow Fluff herself, batshit insane, but she was also the one who sealed him in the first place! There was also the fact that she was basically a power and adoration hungry beast placed in the dough of a cookie. He’d probably respect that if it weren’t for the fact that she went after him and was just a monster in general. He may call himself a beast but that doesn’t compare to the shit that Meringue Cookie does to people. For example, him! She literally almost wiped out his entire identity and took his power for herself! And that’s not even mentioning the fact that she steals the wings of Fairy Cookies whenever they find themselves unlucky enough to be near the village. Though he didn’t know the details, he knew that it had to be painful. “ You’re… okay, right?” Marshmallow Fluff asked, ah, he remembered that he used to be scared of her for some reason as well. But she was pretty much harmless… towards him. She wouldn’t harm him if she had the choice to.  “ … Physically? Yes.” He began, getting back on his feet. “ Mentally? Well, I’m a bit peeved you didn’t do this sooner. But I suppose that it’s better than before.” “ That's good then.” She smiled. “ And I’m sorry, but Meringue Cookie doesn’t leave her office unattended all that much. I only had enough time to get your memories from your soul jam.” She explained, her smile turning more apologetic. “ Ah well, win some, you lose some.” He shrugged, though he was already formulating a plan to get back at their twisted cult leader. All he needed was his soul jam and then he could get straight to his revenge! He’d work out the details later, mainly because he’s still adjusting.

He could see Marshmallow Fluff tense up, crap, Meringue Cookie must be looking for her. Of course, you could imagine his surprise when she pulled him close, close enough to hug him maybe? Who knew, but why did she do that? He soon heard footsteps on the grass and- Oh, that’s how she wanted to play this. Very clever, he supposed. Well, he wouldn’t be one of the world’s greatest actors if he didn’t play into his role. And all it took was a few thoughts to make his face turn a bright blue, nothing too indecent, mind you. It wasn’t long until you caught onto what he was doing, making sure to catch him when his footing went light. “ Ah, dearest prophet…” He could hear Meringue Cookie say, that sickly sweet smile upon her face as she laced her words with honey. “ While I do trust that you are checking up on the barrier, don’t you think that it’s been a bit too long- Hm?” Ah, looks like she noticed him. He could sense the slightest irritation leak into Meringue Cookie’s voice, most people wouldn’t even notice that her tone had changed. “ Ah, Blueberry Milkshake Cookie… Whatever are you doing out here? I suppose that it is one of your free days, yet to spend one near the barrier is quite foolish when it’s on one of its scheduled check up days… And may I ask what you’re doing with our prophet?” She asked, tilting her head a bit to the side. “ Oh!- Um… Ah, how do I explain this…?” He fumbled, though it was merely all acting on his part. But of course, Marshmallow Fluff’s acting helped him sell the bit… and by acting, I mean being bluntly ‘honest’.

“ We were hanging out together while I checked on the barrier, that’s all.” She stated, staring down almost blankly at Meringue Cookie. He had to give it to her, she knew how to keep a cool head. He looked at Meringue Cookie, it was clear that she had had a few doubts about what Marshmallow Fluff had said… But it appeared that she couldn’t call them out. She straightened her posture. “ Very well then.” She simply said, before casting a much less warm glare to Shadow Milk Cookie. “ Oh, but if you’re doing anything to taint our prophet… I will have you kicked out of the village, Blueberry Milkshake Cookie.” She said sternly, one might think that she actually cared for Marshmallow Fluff had they not known what to look for… or what she was really like. Her tone returned to its warm, chipper manner that she had before. “ Be sure to be back by sundown in time for meal time! I’m sure that neither of you would want to miss out.” She hummed before turning on her heel and walking off. Marshmallow Fluff let out a muted sigh of relief, meanwhile Shadow Milk looked up at her. “ You know, you really wouldn’t assume that she’s… well, who she really is under all that. I’ve got to hand that to her at least.” He mused, which earned him a pout from Marshmallow Fluff. “ What? A good actor has to respect another good actor.” “ I… guess you’re right.” She hummed, turning away. There’s a beat of silence before Shadow Milk thinks of a question that he never got answers to. “ Hey, Marshy?” He asked, calling her attention to him with a hum. “ I never got to ask this before, but what exactly is the promised land? I can’t imagine that it’s actually something good since you guys supposedly worship the witches.”

The witches, quite the bitter memory if you asked him. Sure, they, as in the five beasts, had been created by one that was more… morally sound. But there was a small group that actually ate the living cookies that were baked, and not the ones baked for consumption. He hoped that the witches that the cult worshiped were on the less cannibalism-acquainted side… But judging by Marshmallow Fluff Cookie’s rather nervous expression, it was likely that that’s the case. But that doesn’t exactly explain why people are selected for the promised land one by one, if they were getting served up to the witches then wouldn’t it be in batches?  There is, however, a more disturbing thought that comes to mind. And yet, he decides not to chase it just yet. The time for it will come eventually… But he hopes that the traces of that very theory are incorrect. If they were, it would explain a lot about Marshmallow Fluff Cookie… But, would he be able to look at her the same way if it was true? He's seen her lips stained with what he believed to be strawberry jam before though... Yet he doesn't want to believe the possibility. Even though many factors pointed to it being possible. The undeniable, inescapable guilt that he could sense inside her, the way everyone chosen to go to the promised land goes through her first. He doesn't want to believe it, and yet hasn't he done things just as bad? And that's if she's doing it... willingly.

[thrillered]

Could you do a fic where spencer reacts to edits of reader or of them together💖

Reacts | Spencer Agnew x Reader Oneshots

I had a few requests like this so I hope everyone who had a similar request likes it! Just something cute and fluffy.

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“I love you Angela, this is incredible!” You laughed, watching a compilation of Angela moments titled ‘Angela being a feral guinea pig AGAIN for 8 minutes and 22 seconds’. 

“Feral guinea pig is crazy.” Angela sighed. 

The small group finished watching the video, making comments here and there about Angela’s antics. 

“The next compilation requires a slight change in cast,” Ian explained. “Tommy, get out of here! Spencer! Come on over!” 

“Awe Spencey!” You cooed, as he walked onto set, the sound of applause echoing. 

“Now that both Y/N and Spencer are here it’s time for our next video: ‘Spencer and Y/N being the cutest (not 🤨) couple at Smosh’. Let’s get into it.” 

You and Spencer looked at each other, curious as to what would constitute an 18 minute video. You knocked your shoulder into his teasingly, an easy smile gracing his features at your touch. 

“Oh my god! I’m so nervous! Why am I nervous?” You gripped Spencer’s arm tightly, his hand coming to rest on top of yours reassuringly as Shayne began to read an update to the reddit story. Spencer whispered something in your ear, so quiet the mic didn’t even pick it up, making you laugh. 

You paused the video, laughing at the memory. “Oh my god, what did you whisper again?” You asked Spencer. 

“I quoted Will Farrell.” He clarified. 

“Shut up, I’m so fucking scared right now, shut up!” You and Spencer quoted in unison, knocking together in your laughter. 

“That’s definitely gonna be in the next compilation of you two.” Angela teased. 

“Y/N Stop! Holy Shit! Get off of me!” Spencer shriek-laughed, attempting to put his controller out of your reach. 

“No! Fuck! Spencer!” You yelled, basically climbing on top of him trying to mess him up. 

The minigame ended quickly. Hearing it was over you gave up your pursuit of his controller, collapsing on top of him, slightly out of breath. “Good god.” You huffed, resting your head on his shoulder. 

“No way we’re still tied for 4th after all that!” Spencer said, exasperated. He placed his free hand– the one not being pinned down by your body– on your head, ruffling your hair slightly before you sat back up. Looking over to Shayne and Chanse they were both out of breath from laughing at your attack on Spencer.

“I still demand a rematch.” Spencer said, bitter about your success in that ‘don’t Win’ video. 

“Only if you’re ready to get your ass handed to you again.” 

“I feel like there’s gonna be a comp of me and Ian third wheeling you two this whole segment.” Angela interjected, earning a playful glare from the two of you. 

It was just clip after clip of you and Spencer being cute. You two were best friends so you were incredibly comfortable around each other. However, watching the compilation made it a little harder to deny both yours and Spencer’s feelings. You couldn’t help but notice the way he looked at you in each of the clips. He watched you with rapture when you spoke, he looked at you like your voice was the sweetest song he’d ever heard. 

You wanted to deny it but you recognized that look. You recognized it because it was the same way you looked at him. It made your heart swell. 

“I bet if we did an eye-tracker on Spencer and just played a smosh video with Y/N in it, he would always be looking at her.” Ian teased. 

“I mean, as he should.” You laughed. 

“Yeah yeah, whatever. God forbid a man cares about his friend.”

“Oh hush, it's equal caring. I’d be honored for you to stare at me in a video.” You defended. You unpaused for the final clip of the video. 

“Can I phone a friend?” You asked, having no clue what the answer was. 

How you ended up in a video game beapordy, you had no clue. You were doing alright but didn’t know the current question so you didn’t even buzz in. Both Trevor and Chanse had gotten it wrong, leaving it to you. 

“Go ahead.” Shayne allowed.

You called Spencer. You knew he would know the answer. He was currently at his apartment since he had the day off work. 

He picked up after the first ring, which wasn’t unusual for him. “I was just thinking about you.” Spencer remarked, a blush creeping up your neck. “What’s up?” 

“I have a really important question.” You told him, pausing for dramatic effect before reciting the question from Shayne. 

“Oh! This is easy.” Spencer laughed, rattling off the answer and some. 

“I hate to cut you off,” You interjected. “But I gotta finish this game. You can tell me all about it later though.” You promised with a laugh. 

“Okay okay. I’ll see you later then.” 

“Okay, Love you Spence.” 

“I love you more.” 

You hung up, Chanse giving you a playful and knowing smirk. 

“Oh Spencer I love you so dearly.” he mocked, pitching his voice up and adding kissy noises. 

You lightly slapped his arm, allowing the game to continue. 

“Let’s look at some comments, shall we?” Ian asked, scrolling down. 

“ ‘not dating’ my ass, they are too perfect together to not be” 

“Can Spencer fight? I’m so serious.” 

You laughed at this one, looking to Spencer to see his head hanging and shaking no. Beneath that comment was another that mirrored it, only switching your names. 

“Unlike Spencer I can fight so back off my best friend.” You intimated, squaring up to the camera. “Don’t worry babe, I’ll protect you.” You said to Spencer, doing your best douche-bag voice. 

Spencer left the video after this, Tommy reentering to watch the rest of the compilations. 

Spencer sat to the side, watching you, smiling when you did and laughing at all of your jokes. He already knew the comments on this video would be wild. You two had been getting edits and shipping content since your very first video together years ago. He didn’t mind it though.  He knew your friendship was secure and that’s all he cared about. 

Would it make him the happiest man on Earth to be with you? Yes. But that didn’t matter unless you wanted it. He was perfectly content being your best friend, it was a title he wore with great honor. 

He would try one day, he had to. But for now he didn’t need to be your boyfriend to know you loved him. You made it apparent every day with each interaction you shared. He hoped he did the same, because loving you was always the easiest part of his days, and the one that made him the happiest.

[srjlvr]

[ LET’S GET MARRIED ! ] — lhs <3

PAIRING. lee heeseung!student X femreader!student !

SYN. the uni is giving away free dorms! under one condition, in order to save your desperate broke ass student’s life, you’d have to get married. and who’d be the lucky person to marry you if not your childhood friend? no feelings involved of course!…..right?

GENRE. he fell first but she fell harder, basically being in denial for feelings at first, childhood friends to a married couple, fluff fluff fluff !

WARNINGS. mentions of getting married(obv), rest of enha and lesserafim’s yunjin & chaewon are in it too, mentions on having kids(no, there will be no kids here its nothing serious!!), mentions of food, being broke because of uni student life. (pls do lmk if i missed something!) || NOT PROOFREAD AND VERY POORLY WRITTEN!!

WORD-COUNT. 5.1k+ (damn!)

NOTE. this is me being extremely sorry for not continuing my heeseung smau by releasing a heeseung oneshot yay!! i actually got the inspiration from HAPPINESS (one of my fav kdramas!) please leave some feedbacks!! i really wanna know what you thought about it<3

when you were younger, you’ve made a wishing list to you in the future, as soon as you turn an adult.

three important wishes were ;

first, never go broke while being a uni student.

second, never get married before the age of 25.

third, never ever fall in love with your best friend since childhood, aka lee heeseung.

first one is already being a huge failure. younger you would be definitely disappointed in uni student you, not that you care that much, but being a broke student sucks.

“my parents are literally about to kick me out, i get that, i’m a 22 years old uni student who’s still living up their asses, they probably want some peaceful and quiet life” you smacked your head over the lunch table, both of your friends looking at you concerned.

“maybe it’s time for you to pay for the dor-“

“never! yunjin, tell her how broke i am”

“she has like 1 dollar in her bank account, she’s still taking loans from her parents” yunjin nodded and you rolled your eyes.

“you didn’t have to go that far”

“oh i did”

“oh i know! what if you just start working?” chaewon raised her voice a bit.

“i have no time!”

“excuses excuses blah blah blah” she mocked you.

“look at heeseung for example, he works in a part time job at the convenience store right next to uni” yunjin pointed out.

you searched through the lunch hall and found the one person you’ve been looking for, lee heeseung.

you’ve been stuck to him ever since childhood, with your mothers being the biggest best friends you’ve ever seen, it was pretty hard to not see him every day in your young days.

both of your mothers even got pregnant at the same time, and gave birth around the same time, you’re two days younger than him.

your photo album is full with pictures of you and him, and so are the hanged photos on your house wall.

your mother and his mother were your biggest shippers, forcing you both to hug each other and even wear matching clothes.

your elementary school memories are filled with heeseung next to you and the whole class shipping you two.

highschool days weren’t better either, guys who wanted to try a move on you were always so scared of heeseung, they were so sure you and him are dating, with the amount of glares they got from him it was really hard to think otherwise.

your highschool crushes rejected you, always giving the excuse of not wanting to be in a relationship, hiding the fact that heeseung warned them that if they’ll say yes he’ll make sure they never see a daylight again.

he was joking, really. he’s not the violent type, and he couldn’t really explain why was he feeling so jealous whenever he saw you confessing to a guy who isn’t him.

heeseung got used to watching you from afar and protecting you, and you got used to search him everywhere you go even in crowded places and having his company ever since childhood.

“hee!” you called and waved at him, he waved at you back with a smile on his face.

“i swear if i didn’t know both of you were childhood friends i would’ve think you’re a married couple or something” chaewon rolled her eyes and you scoffed.

heeseung continued his way to his usual table with his friends.

“thinking about ways to confess your love to her?” jake smirked and heeseung shook away his thoughts.

“hm? who?” he asked.

“it’s obvious who! don’t play dumb come on!” sunghoon playfully pushed the older one.

“we’re talking about Y/N! everyone in uni are talking about you, even those who know nothing about the two of you” jay remarked.

“there’s nothing between us, we’re just friends” heeseung shrugged.

“and i’m queen elizabeth” sunoo tsked.

heeseung rolled his eyes and began to eat, “you know, even if i did have a crush on her, why would she even accept my confession?”

“ohhhh~” his friends teased.

“it’s kind of obvious she likes you, we’ve watched her ever since we became friends with you, and the way she looks at you is just different” jungwon shrugged and ni-ki nodded.

“she’s always searching you in a crowded room, as if you’re her guardian angel and she only needs you in her life in order for it to be perfect” ni-ki then stole a few bites of heeseung’s meal.

“hey! not cool” heeseung scoffed and ni-ki giggled.

“it’s not bad to have a crush on your childhood friend, you know?” jake smiled, “sometimes all you need is a miracle” jay added.

“hey, let’s go on a work search for yo-“

“no no no yunjin not you too!!” you sobbed, “i have no time to work and i need to search for the cheapest dorm, a one i can actually afford as soon as possible”

“why don’t you just go and ask heeseung for help” chaewon shrugged.

“it’s not that easy, i don’t want him to worry about it too much, he works hard for his money too” you pout and they nodded.

“by the way! how’s the money for the uni dorms is going?” jake asked heeseung who was busy fighting with ni-ki over his food.

“i’m just a few shifts away from getting enough money, i’ll ask y/n to become my roommate as soon as— what?” he noticed his friends looking at him.

“y/n and you? being roommates?” sunoo teased.

“hey, me and y/n spent all our childhood together, my house is her house and her house is mine, it has been like that for a while” heeseung sighed and they all nodded hesitatly.

“still, you said y/n’s parents told you about her not being able to pay for the uni dorms, are you really willing to pay it all?” jungwon asked.

heeseung shrugged and took a bite from his food again, “it’s either that or she’ll get kicked out by her parents”

“you really are her guardian angel” ni-ki whispered.

“good morning! you have afternoon classes today right?” your mother woke you up with a smile smeared all over her face.

“mhhm” you hummed, still trying to adjust the bright sunlight that hit your face.

“i need you to bring some medicine for ms lee! she’s been sick and i bought her some things” your mother helped you to get up and shoved you a bag, “here”

“can you please just let me get—“

“you can get ready at theirs! quickly quickly go!” she pushed you outside of your house. damn, she really does hope you’d get out as soon as possible.

she was right though, heeseung’s house is your house, and your house is his. you have a few clothes and even a toothbrush at his house and he has the same at yours, getting ready there was never a problem to you.

a walk to their house is even less than 5 minutes so you weren’t worried about someone from your neighborhood getting a jumpscare and thinking you’re some kind of a zombie.

you took out the keys and opened the door, heeseung was sitting in the kitchen and eating his breakfast.

“don’t ask, been a rough morning, where’s mom by the way?” you asked him and he pointed at her room. you got used to call his mom your mom too.

you saw her sleeping so you left the bag and the medicine next to her, leaving a note saying good morning and instructions of how to take the medicine, as if she doesn’t know all of that.

“you have afternoon classes too?” you asked heeseung while getting ready. he was in his room, lying on his bed while playing some games on his phone.

“not really, i don’t have any class today” he chuckled.

“since when don’t you have any classes today?”

“ever since i decided that im too tired to go to uni”

you rolled your eyes and threw one of the pillows at him, “don’t be stupid! get up and get ready to go!”

he giggled and shook his head, “i’m joking, i took evening classes for today”

you pressed your lips together and nodded, you don’t know why but hearing him giggling always made your heart skip a beat, but you don’t have any feelings for him, like, at all. right?

afternoon classes started and before you knew it, it was already lunch time.

“y/n! you won’t believe it!!” chaewon shout.

“what is it?” you shout at her back even though you were sitting right in front of her.

“i found you a solution! you can get a free dorm!” she shout back.

“what!” you shout.

“can you stop shouting! for god’s sake you’re literally a 1 cm away from each other” yunjin, who was covering her ears yelled.

you and chaewon shared an eye contact and froze. yunjin is so scary when she’s angry.

“continue please” she coughed and let chaewon continue what she had to say.

“it might seem crazy what i’m about to say,” chaewon sighed, “the uni is giving away free dorms—“

“no way omg omg omg please tell me i’m dreaming this is not happening right now right this is not real righ—“

“under one condition!” she cut you off and took her phone out of her pocket to read the terms.

“in order to get a free dorm, you have to have at least one option applied ;

one, you’re younger than 18. two, you’ve been scoring A+ on ALL of your exams and three, you’re between the ages 18-25 and got married, or engaged” she finished reading and turned off her phone.

“but chaewon, i’m not younger than eighteen” you complained and rest your head on your arm who was lying on the table.

“nor scoring A+ on ALL of your exams” yunjin added.

“thanks yunjin, i needed that”

“always here to help”

“then you know what’s left” chaewon smirked and you sat up, looking at her with innocent eyes.

“no” you let out.

“oh yes”

“i have no one to marry to” you argued.

“yes you do!” yunjin replied.

“i do not!”

chaewon and yunjin raised a brow and crossed their arms, “you don’t?”

as heeseung entered the uni entrance, you ran towards his direction and stopped in front of him.

“y/n why are you still here—“

“let’s get married” you said it out loud in front of everyone who was around.

your surroundings suddenly became quiet and everyone was staring at you two, starting to whisper and waiting for heeseung’s answer.

instead of answering he grabbed your wrist and dragged you out of the entrance into a place in the garden next to the uni.

the walk there was making you so nervous and anxious, what if you were a bit too much? asking your childhood friend to marry you just to get a free dorm? are you that desperate?

when he finally stopped, he let go of your wrist and cupped your cheeks, looking straight into your eyes.

“what did you say?” he asked, his eyes looking for any sign or answer from you.

“i said, let’s get married”

heeseung could’ve swore his heart skipped a beat because he for real felt like he died at that spot.

“let me explain!” you said before he could respond.

“the uni are giving out free dorms to anyone who’s between the ages of 18-25 and is married or engaged” you sighed.

heeseung let go of his hold and sighed, looking down and closing his eyes.

you really didn’t mean that genuinely, did you? something in him really hoped you did.

“hee?” you asked, biting your lower lips, suddenly feeling more anxious than before

“sure, let’s get married” he chuckled.

you broke your second main wish on your list.

heeseung was just a few shifts away from getting enough money to get the both of you a place to live in, he could have told you that too, but he chose not to.

only crazy people would agree to this idea, you were so desperate that you actually just asked him to marry you, and he guessed he was one of those crazy people, because he had no idea why he said yes.

he had other way, without marrying you, but something about the idea of marrying you made him feel excited.

“i knew it i knew it! only crazy people would agr— wait what” you blinked a few times after you realized his answer.

“i said sure, let’s get married” he smiled softly and you were about to faint.

“no feelings are involved….right?” you hesitantly asked him, hoping he wouldn’t agree with you.

instead, he nodded slowly and hesitantly, “no feelings involved”

you regretted that sentence so bad because the day after, when he kneeled on one knee and held a ring out for you in front of everyone and proposed to you, your couldn’t lie to yourself anymore, you actually broke your third wish on your list a few years ago, you were in love with lee heeseung for years.

“y/l/n y/n, i have loved you ever since i can remember, i watched you grow up and grew up with you as well, i got used to being with you 24/7, i can’t see the rest of my life without you in it, will you make me the happiest man alive and agree to marry me?”

even though it was an act(according to you), it felt so real to the point where you cried and sobbed so badly, while putting on the ring he bought for you less than 24 hours ago.

it wasnt planned. the proposal wasn’t planned at all.

the plan was that you and heeseung will go to the uni secretariat and request an application for the free dorm since both of you are engaged now.

heeseung had no reason to put on this whole show and show everyone that you’re now engaged. you have no idea why he did it, and instead of getting angry at him, you fell in love with him even more.

it felt wrong, it felt not right.

but you didn’t care, you always knew your feelings for heeseung were somewhere deep inside your heart. you tried to push them away all the time, because there was no way your childhood friend, the popular boy in your highschool, the kid who grew up with you, had feelings for you.

you tried to deny your feelings but now you realized thrre was no use anymore, so you let yourself love him as much as you can.

it wasn’t the desperation that lead you to ask him to marry you, because then you’d ask literally any other guy, it was your pure love to him, to the guy who was always there for you when you needed him.

“heeseung! explain what was that!” his six other friends gathered in a circle, surrounding him and not letting him go.

“what was wha—“

“you and y/n? married?” jungwon shout.

“have you gone crazy?” jake added.

“and she said yes! something is not right” jay joined.

“yesterday you told us you have no feelings for her!” sunoo remarked.

“you didn’t even believe us when we told you she’s obviously in love with you” sunghoon tsked.

“something isn’t sitting right to me” ni-ki gasped.

“explain now!” they all said at the same time.

“calm down!” heeseung coughed, “i’ll explain to you everything later”

by later he meant after classes, at his house, together with you and your friends yunjin and chaewon.

“yunjin, chaewon” heeseung nodded at your friends.

“lee heeseung” they glared at him.

“come on! both of you knew about it even before” you pleaded.

“doesn’t change the fact that he’ll be stealing you from us now” they rolled their eyes.

“i’m still so confused” ni-ki tried to quicken everyone and get to the point.

“me and y/n are getting married—“

“yeah no shit sherlock” sunghoon cute him off and heeseung glared at him.

“anyway, y/n would you like the explain why?” he turned to you and smiled.

“the uni is giving away free dorms to married couples between 18-25 so—“

“you decided to get married to get a free dorm” jay finished your sentence.

“have you gone mad? heeseung worked his ass to get enough money to get the dorms for the bo— mhhhhmmm!!!” sunoo roamed but jake covered his mouth before he could continue.

“sunoo!!” jake coughed and turned to you with a smile, “don’t mind him he’s been stressed from work and uni lately”

the rest of you giggled awkwardly and tried to ease the atmosphere.

after you yunjin and chaewon left, the boys stayed with heeseung, looking at him with concern.

“what?” heeseung looked at them back with his bambi eyes.

“i don’t know hee, it feels like….she’s kind of using you” sunghoon spoke, jay slapped his arm and he whined.

“he’s right though, marrying you only to get a dorm is quite crazy” jungwon nodded.

“he’s even crazier for actually agreeing to all of this” ni-ki said and jake shushed him.

“ni-ki is right, i am crazy, i have no idea why i said yes but she wasn’t forcing anything on me” heeseung shrugged, “besides, i’ve liked her for so many years so—“

“ah ha!! we knew it!” they all said at the same time and heeseung sighed. what have he got himself into?

after everyone left, heeseung texted you, asking you to meet him in your usual spot.

you got ready and for the first time, you took a while to do so.

you stared at yourself in the mirror a few times and even checked different outfits. this has never happened to you ever before, especially not when you knew that you’re going to see heeseung.

heeseung saw you at your worst, why are you dressing up for him now then?

“i must be crazy, crazy crazy!” you shook away your thoughts and got out to meet your soon-to-be-husband.

“hee!” you saw his back facing you and as soon as he turned around you froze.

did he dress up for you too? why does he look so breathtaking suddenly? his bambi eyes match the rest of his beautiful features on his face so much, you’ve seen this man grow up, you know every detail about his face and you couldn’t explain why it was so sudden that you got caught by surprise because of his beauties.

shaking away your thoughts, you walked closer to him and smiled.

“hey hubby” you grinned.

“hubby?” he asked.

“a new nickname for my soon-to-be-husband” you chuckled and he nodded.

“i actually thought about something,” he turned to you, “our parents will figure it out sooner or later, should we tell them the truth or—“

“no, let them believe we’re getting married without any reason other than being in love”

you have no idea why you just said that. but you hid your face as soon as you realized what just came out of your mouth.

heeseung felt too flattered and suddenly didn’t know what to say. you keep on making him speechless.

“ahem,” he cleared his throat, “you do know that they’ll probably rush out things and even take the wedding plan to their own hands“

i don’t care, i’d like to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you as soon as i can. is what you wanted to say, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do so.

“y/n?” he asked. he noticed you were too deep in thoughts and waited for you to come back to sense.

“i’m aware” you nodded, “i’ve also got a text from the uni, we’ll be getting our dorm in the next week, so we should start preparing”

heeseung nodded and looked at you. you were suddenly feeling so nervous and shy to share an eye contact with him, so you broke it as he just kept staring at you and taking in your beauty.

“hey y/n” he said, “hm?”

“i don’t mind marrying you and spending the rest of my life being married to you”

you looked over him and he had the genuinest smile you’ve ever seen.

it felt like the world had froze, and the snow that was falling suddenly stopped, it felt like it was just the two of you in this whole world.

“YOU’RE GETTING WHAT?” your mother yelled.

you and heeseung planned a dinner with both of your parents, to announce the big news.

things became quite awkward between the two of you, ever since your last encounter with him you could barely face him.

his sudden confession freaked you out and the only thing that came out of your mouth was “oh, okay” in the most dry way ever.

you wanted to tell him you feel the same, you wanted to tell him that you’ve been in love with him ever since forever. but one moment that caught you off guard ruined your chance.

you were stupid, stupid and idiot. heeseung probably thinks you hate his guts now.

heeseung in the meantime felt like he was breaking apart slowly. oh, okay?? that’s all you had to answer?

he felt dumb, he felt hopeless. the confession was completely out of the blue and unplanned, your beauty hypnotized him and he was so mesmerized by you that the words just came out of his mouth naturally.

what if you hate his guts now? what if he made you uncomfortable? what if you’ll regret it the last minute because you weren’t feeling the same about him?

all of those questions were eating him alive, and you didn’t help either. each time he came up to you, you were suddenly in rush and told him you have to go, it was breaking him inside slowly.

the dinner was one chance to finally talk with you again.

“married, mom. we’re getting married” you repeat what you already said a few seconds ago.

“when? where? how?” heeseung’s mother asked.

heeseung looked at you and smiled warmly, “it just happened, we’ve been together ever since childhood, it already felt like being in a relationship for so long, so we decided to marry each other” he chuckled and held your hand tightly, “to belong to each other until the day we die”

your parents looked at the both of you. you were sharing eye contact for so long, with heeseung smiling at you, looking deep into your eyes, and with you looking at him with nothing but pure love in your eyes that was making everyone in the room feel so jealous of you two.

“now kiss!” your mother said.

you and heeseung broke the eye contact and blinked a few times.

“what?” you asked.

“kiss then! i want to picture it and keep it in my photo gallery forever!” his mother added.

you were about to speak up until heeseung held your cheek to turn you to face him and it was only a matter of seconds until you felt his lips on yours.

it was your first kiss ever, your first time kissing someone, and it was his as well, but he lead you on so good that it made it look less awkward.

you were his first kiss. you, his childhood friend, stole his first kiss.

“we knew that it’ll happen one day!!” your mothers cheered, “we even have a whole wedding plan ready!!”

you and heeseung broke the kiss and shared an eye contact again.

you didn’t need to hear him say to know how much love he holds for you, and how he cherishes you so much.

and your eyes told him everything, they held the answers to all of the questions that bothered him. you love him as much as he loves you.

“i can’t believe you’re getting married, my little angels” your parents cried altogether which made heeseung let go of his hold on you and grab some tissues to wipe their tears.

“i love that ring by the way! heeseung you did a great job” your mother gave him thumbs up and he chuckled.

if only she knew that it was a ring he bought you in less than 24 hours and even rushed your friends to come with him and help him pick it only because he wanted his whole life to properly propose you.

it was a moving day already and your parents helped you pack every last thing, they even cried through the way, how could their princess leave them so fast?

“you can visit our house anytime!” you tried to comfort them.

“we’ll update you before that, we don’t want to catch you while doing the thing you know” your mother winked and you rolled your eyes, “mom!”

“i see you’re all packed and ready” heeseung came in to check on you.

“she is! take her away already!” your mother complained.

“not before you take this with you!” she went away for a few seconds and came back with a huge wrapped photo frame.

“don’t open it yet!! only when you get into your new house and get everything in place!!” she excitedly hugged the both of you and you nodded.

moving in was quite rough, you had a lot of boxes to unpack and organized, and you and heeseung never felt more awkward after the first kiss you shared.

you’ve barely spoke with each other and your friends were starting to get concerned.

“he told me he doesn’t mind marrying me and spending the rest of his life with me” you pout.

yunjin and chaewon shout and giggled, “girl! he’s more than in love with you!! he’s lovesick!!” they both said.

“what did you answer then?” yunjin asked.

“i told him okay” you smacked your head on the table.

“no way” chaewon gasped.

“yes way” you whined.

“you’re stupid!!” they both smacked you.

“then!!” you shout, “we had our first kiss on dinner in front of our parents” you whispered that part.

“what did you say? couldn’t hear you�� chaewon said.

“oh she said that they shared their first kiss on dinner with their— YOU HAD YOUR FIRST KISS WITH HEESEUNG??” yunjin’s eyes widened.

“what happened after that?” chaewon asked curiously.

“we just finished dinner, and now we barely even talk” you sighed, “each time i see him i’m just blushing and running away, i can’t face him!”

“you have to!! you’re moving in soon!!” yunjin argued and chaewon nodded.

“it’ll be the death of me” you sobbed and they chuckled.

you were right at first, but slowly and surely heeseung made a joke and both of you got back to normal in no time, as if nothing happened between you two.

you even helped him organizing his closet and his room, and he did the same.

after a long day you and heeseung finally laid down on your now shared sofa.

“it’s been a rough day” you sighed.

“should we order something?” he suggested and you nodded immediately. you ended up ordering your favorite food.

“let’s open up the picture!!” you said and grabbed the picture your mom gave you earlier today.

you and heeseung both unwrapped it together and revealed an old picture of you and heeseung hugging each other with a huge smile on your faces.

“look at us then and look at us now” he giggled.

both of you hanged the picture right above your sofa and kept staring at it for a while.

“hey hee,” you spoke, “yeah?”

“i wouldn’t mind marrying you and spending the rest of my days with you too” you turned to him, “until the day i die”

“is that your way of telling me you love me too?” heeseung froze for a second. you caught him off guard for the countless time already.

although he understood very clearly your feelings after you shared your first kiss, hearing your words made his heart beat fast.

it was a confirmation for him that all of his feelings for you were actually mutual all this time.

instead of answering his questions you grabbed his shirt and kissed him.

he put his hands around your waist and pushed you closer to him, holding you tightly as if he’s too scared to let you go.

breaking off the kiss was hard, but the lack of oxygen was kicking in, you pressed your foreheads together, still with your eyes closed.

“does that answer your question?” you giggled and you felt him smiling.

“i don’t think so, i need a bit more of it to feel certain” he teased and you tsked.

“i don’t need to be in a relationship with you to feel certain about my feelings and my willingness to marry you, i want to spend my life with you, i love you” you said and pecked his lips.

“i love you too, y/n” he pecked your lips again and it suddenly got into a fight between you two about who pecks the other more, until it ended up in a long, deep kiss.

“so let me get this straight. you and heeseung had been in denial for many many years and manipulated yourself into thinking that you don’t like each other at all at all, then when y/n’s desperate and broke ass heard of a chance to get a free dorm by getting married, she went up to you, heeseung, and asked her to marry you, you agreed to the proposal because at one point you stopped lying to yourself and realized you’re actually lovesick, and the rest is history” ni-ki finally breathed out after almost rapping this whole story.

“by history i mean y/n waking up from her denial and realizing her feelings to you” he added.

“yes, exactly” heeseung nodded and you chuckled.

you were sitting together with your friends on one table, yunjin and chaewon who were already aware of the story added a few notes here and there as ni-ki summarized your whole story.

“this is a story to tell your children” jay smiled and the rest nodded.

“we’re not planning to get pregnant anytime soon, we didn’t even have a wedding yet” you sighed.

“you never know y/n, you never know!” sunoo slowly nodded.

“why did you say that as if you went through something familiar” jungwon teased.

“you never know y/n, you never know!” sunghoon mocked sunoo.

“that was a good one!” jake laughed with him.

“children, literal children who found themselves in uni somehow” you sighed.

��at this point we won’t even need to have any children when we have them” heeseung agreed with you.

“it doesn’t matter, as long as i’m with you” you smiled and pecked his lips.

“get a room you two will you!”

PERM TAG-LIST ; @sungwhoonz @ohdudehesflirting @unlikelysublimekryptonite @deobiis @manooffline @miumiuoi @in-somnias-world @lovelovelovebts @filmofhybe @wonbinsnovia @daegutowns @aurumiee @soobywon @dhriti-stories @ariadores @firstclassjaylee @watamotee33 @moons-v (bold means cannot be tagged)

••• copyright © srjlvr all rights are reserved.

[vandme12]

I barely see Ronin as a mechanic! Headcanons/Oneshots!

This was in my drafts for days..

You're not exactly sure how it happened. One minute, you’re flopped on Ronin's couch, droning on about how bored you are—how you could die of it, actually, right here, right now. The next, he's dragging you out to the garage like a wolf with a chew toy, all sharp teeth and brighter eyes, muttering something about “if you’re gonna whine, might as well make yourself useful.”

Useful, apparently, means learning how to fix cars. Because that’s what he does when he’s not busy tearing people apart. A little hands-on therapy. Take something broken, make it purr again. You guess it fits—devils need hobbies, too.

“I still think you should just let me die of boredom,” you grumble, arms folded as you watch him prop the hood open. It groans like a corpse stretching in its grave, metal rasping against metal.

Ronin snorts. "Dramatic much? C'mon, darlin', ain't gonna kill ya to learn how an engine works. Might even save your pretty ass one day."

You give him a look that could peel paint. "Or you could just fix it for me. That's what boyfriends are for."

That earns you a low, wicked laugh. The kind that slides under your skin and stays there. "Oh, sweet thing, you're in for it now. Open up those pretty hands—time to get 'em dirty."

He hands you a wrench, and you hold it like it's a foreign object. Ronin leans over the engine block, sleeves shoved up to his elbows, revealing forearms streaked in grease and little healing scrapes. He’s beautiful in the most ridiculous way: all messy burgundy hair, shark-teeth grin, and a nicotine burn low on his wrist. A devil working the bones of a machine.

And, lucky you—you get to be his little apprentice.

“So, what are we doing?” you ask, mostly to fill the silence. Ronin's in his element, already half-lost to the work. Fingers curling around bolts like he could coax the car to life with touch alone.

“Changing the spark plugs,” he says. Then, when you give him your best bewildered expression, he chuckles. “They help make the magic happen, baby. No spark, no fire, no joyride. Same as people, really.”

“Poetic,” you deadpan. “So, where do I start?”

Ronin tilts his head toward the engine. "Get in here, darlin. I ain't gonna hold your hand the whole way."

That is a lie, by the way. He absolutely will.

You squeeze next to him, shoulder brushing his. The garage smells like old oil, sweat, and something sweetly metallic underneath—not quite blood, but close enough that your stomach flips. His heat soaks into your skin when he leans in, hands guiding yours over the metal innards.

He explains things in that lazy drawl of his, a little smug every time you mess up. And you mess up a lot. Your fingers slip, your grip's too weak, you curse when you almost drop a spark plug into the engine. Ronin just watches, like he's enjoying the spectacle of you struggling.

“Y’know,” he murmurs, breath warm against your neck, “you’re real cute when you’re useless.”

“Fuck you,” you snap back, except it comes out a little too breathy. Which, of course, he catches. His smile goes sharp enough to cut.

"Careful, darlin'. Keep talkin' like that, I might start thinkin' you like it when I'm mean."

Your hands falter, and you feel his gaze crawl over you. Heavy, hot. You don't answer, because what would you even say? He's not wrong.

“Alright,” he says, voice softer but no less dangerous. “Tighten that one, yeah? Let’s see if you can follow basic fuckin' instructions.”

You try. You really do. But the angle's weird, and your fingers keep slipping, and why the hell is everything in a car so awkward? Your knee bumps against the wheel well when you lean in deeper, and suddenly you're halfway sprawled over the engine like a sacrificial offering.

Perfect. Exactly what Ronin wanted.

He catches you before you can slide further, one grease-slick hand curling around your waist. His other hand plucks the wrench from your grip with infuriating ease.

“Clumsy thing,” he drawls. “What am I gonna do with you, huh?”

“You could start by letting me go,” you say, but you don’t mean it. Not even a little. And Ronin’s the last person alive to fall for your lies.

His fingers press harder against your waist. "Nah," he says, low and rough, “I like you right where you are.”

He kisses you before you can fire back. Messy, claiming, dragging the breath from your lungs. His teeth catch your lower lip and tug, pulling a noise from your throat you weren’t planning to make. The taste of him is familiar—smoke and something darker beneath it, something that’s always felt a little like danger. Like sin in the shape of a man.

When he pulls back, you’re half-dizzy. Your hands are still braced against the edge of the car, and you can feel how tightly he’s holding you, like you might slip away if he isn’t careful.

“See?” he purrs. “Told ya fixin' cars could be fun.”

“I hate you,” you mutter, but you press closer anyway.

He grins, blood-red and wicked. "Nah. You love me. Now, quit slacking and hand me that wrench, sweetheart. We got work to do."

Head canons!

"Bored, darling?" If you so much as hint that you’ve got nothing to do, Ronin’s dragging you to the garage. He’s already got his coveralls half-unzipped, grease smeared across his jaw like a smudged halo—saint of the scrapyard, king of the underworld. He’ll plop you in front of some busted hunk of metal and call it a “bonding experience.” (Translation: watching you struggle is his favorite form of entertainment.)

Zero discounts, actually. If anything, Ronin charges you extra. Call it the “boyfriend tax.” He’ll fix your ride, sure—but only after making you bribe him with a kiss (or several). You’re not getting off easy. If you try to sweet-talk your way to a lower price? He just leans in, smirks against your ear, and murmurs, “Ya know, darling, I could break it worse if you wanted somethin’ new. Keep me busy.”

His garage is your second home. He doesn’t just let anyone hang around while he works—this is sacred ground, baby. But you? You get to sit on the workbench, legs swinging while he’s half-buried under an engine. He’ll toss you snacks from his stash (suspiciously all junk food) and occasionally drag you over just to “hold something.” (Spoiler: he just wants you close.)

Oh, sweetheart, you thought you were getting a discount? Cute. Ronin charges extra for you—calls it the “Tax.” Every time you ask, he tuts like you're breaking his poor, mechanical heart. But let your car actually break down? Suddenly, it’s "Nah, baby, I got this." He’ll fix it before you even notice, no charge—he just likes making you owe him. (And oh, you owe him plenty.) "Ain’t about the money, darlin’. It’s about makin’ sure you need me. And you do, don’tcha?"

Every. Single. Time. You visit the garage, he’s sweaty, just to make sure you suffer. Bonus points if you’re there in the summer—he’ll stretch, flex, and wink while holding a wrench like he’s posing for a calendar shoot. Loves to call you his “little assistant”—but gives you the most pointless tasks. "Hold this bolt. No, not like that. With love, babe. Jeez, where’s your passion?" If you complain? You’re getting pinned against the nearest surface with grease-smudged fingers trailing down your jaw. "Maybe if you were good, I’d give ya the easy jobs. But nah, you like it rough, don’tcha?"

He makes you “help” with repairs. Even though you suck. But he’s patient—weirdly patient for someone with blood on his hands. He’ll guide your fingers over the engine, teach you the difference between spark plugs and fuel injectors like it’s the most romantic thing in the world. And if you mess up? He just laughs, leans over you, and drawls, “Cute try, baby. Maybe leave the hard stuff to me.”

Car rides are a whole other game. After fixing your vehicle, he insists on a “test drive” with you in the passenger seat. He drives one-handed, the other resting heavy on your thigh—like he’s claiming both the road and you. “Gotta make sure it’s runnin’ smooth,” he says, voice thick with innuendo.

Grease-streaked kisses. You always leave his garage marked—fingers on your waist, motor oil smudged along your neck from when he drags you close. And if you complain? He just grins. “Looks better on ya than it does on me, darling.”

Your vehicle has an unofficial VIP pass. No matter how busy he is, if it’s your car in trouble, everything else can wait. Doesn’t matter if it’s a busted tire or the whole engine blowing out—he’ll fix it, grinning like he lives for the chaos you bring. Just don’t expect him to let you off easy: “You keep breakin’ shit, sweetheart, I’m gonna start thinkin’ you just wanna see me sweaty.”

His garage playlist is insane. Half industrial metal, half bluesy rock—loud enough to shake the walls. You pretend to hate it, but there’s something weirdly attractive about watching Ronin, sleeves rolled up, half-cursing along to the music while elbow-deep in some Frankenstein engine. (And if you’re lucky? He’ll pull you into a grease-streaked dance right there on the oil-stained floor.)

[nemisuki]

Explosive Love

Synopsis || When the blonde realizes he yearns for their first kiss, he couldn’t help but to get a bit rough after his first failed attempt! 

᧔o᧓ || katsuki bakugo x f!reader, she/her pronouns, pure fluff, no smut or angst, a little steamy ngl, oneshot, majority bkg pov, dating au, first kisses, ice skater bkg mentioned, funny wholesome moments, he’s just a lil guy, 1.2k word count

If someone were to go back in time and tell the blonde's past self about the current situation he was in.... he would think they were insane.

Why do you ask?

Because Katsuki Bakugo does not fall in love.

He doesn't go on dates, he doesn't spend hours thinking about his outfit, he doesn't look up the best spots in the city and he certainly does not yearn to get physical.

Yet here he is, four months into a relationship – somehow managing to get his pretty classmates attention – and walking y/n back to her house, as the stars twinkle in the night sky above them.

Winter break gave them the rare opportunity for a late outing, spending the majority of their afternoon going ice skating.

Suppose he should thank his parents for being pushy when he was younger, putting him in any extracurricular activity possible – one of them being ice skating classes – giving him the chance to show off in front of her.

Hence it led him to teach her the basics, the girl clinging to him as much as possible in order to not fall, it was quite a comical scene to those passing by who giggled at the cute couple.

But it also made him have a realization.

The more time passed, the more he began to notice just how close she was, the scent of her perfume invading his nostrils and the way her lip gloss glistened as she pouted whenever she fell... he was entranced.

For the first time in his life, Bakugo Katsuki wanted to feel more than just her hand in his.

He longed for the distance to lessen, yearned to get a taste of what flavored lip gloss she put on today, ached to exchange something more than innocent headpats.

The boy wanted more.

"Ah, we're here, thank you for walking me home, Katsuki! I had lots of fun today!"

She turns to face him, a warm smile on her face as their gazes meet – the thumping of his heart only increasing from the sight – is this what falling in love feels like?

Noticing a stray hair falling down her face, his hand instinctively reaches out, gently brushing it behind her ear.

"Yeah? I'm glad... even if you did fall on your ass more times than I can count, ya klutz."

Laughter bubbles up within her as she remembers such events, the sound warming his skin as his palm halts on her face, y/n leaning into it out of habit.

It's that trusting nature of hers that has him bending down, his mind unable to process the action before his body moves on its own.

"Hey don't make fun of me-"

Just as she's about to frown at his teasing, her head slightly tilted to the side – accidentally ruining the target of his desires – as his lips touch her cheek.

Her whole body stills at the action, breath hitching as her pupils dilate with shock at the unfamiliar sensation.

The blonde quickly pulls back, the previous warmth of his body now spreading across his face all the way to the tips of his ears, embarrassment flooding every inch of him that has him completely frozen.

Fuck fuck fuck.

He messed it up!

His mind goes on overdrive at his epic fail, he couldn't believe it – as a hero in training who faced a good handful of villains – this was still his biggest defeat till date.

With his mind in a loop, he's broken out of his thoughts a few seconds later, her hand gently taking his to give it a small squeeze.

He reluctantly meets her gaze, his heart stammering as he sees her shy expression – wavering eye contact and softened brows – a look he never fails to adore despite his gruff personality.

"I-I'm sorry... I moved so..."

The boy tenses at the implication of her words, the way she's sneaking peeks at his lips, her hand holding his – though unyielding yet slightly shaky with nerves – gives him the reassurance he needed.

He takes a step closer, acting on this impulse that guides him to lessen the distance, rubbing small circles on her cheek to feel the burning warmth underneath his fingertips.

His control hangs on a thread as she gives him those pleading eyes.

The throbbing sensation in his head only increases as he slowly leans down, their eyes fluttering close as the gap between them disappears, lips connecting after an excruciating four months of innocent touches.

All of a sudden the previous mental aches disappear, his mind thinking about nothing except the feeling of her plush lips moving against his.

He then gets the answer to his earlier question, cherry lip gloss huh?

The blonde notices the way her grip on his hand tightens significantly, as if caught off guard by the intensity of the contact.

He tries, he really does to be as gentle as he could, but maybe it's the pent up emotions he didn't realize after months of waiting that has him continuing.

His kisses are slightly rough, eager in every way possible, finally claiming what's his as he depends on the adrenaline to keep him going.

The crisp air blows against them yet neither feels the chilly atmosphere surrounding each other, too immersed in the current heat forming between them, seeking refuge in one another.

Despite it only lasting a handful of seconds, they both pull away feeling absolutely breathless, the reality of their first kiss – now turned kisses – making them both avert their gazes with peaked timidness.

Remembering his unsuccessful first attempt, she begins giggling at the memory, soon turning into hearty laughter.

He frowns at her direction, like he knows what she's thinking about, though grumpy she notices the tips of his ears that hue in pink.

"Sorry sorry! It was cute!"

Katsuki rolls his eyes in response, though they both know it's to hide his humiliation.

He knows she'll forever tease him about this.

"Shuddup I ain't cute."

Her eyes soften and she suddenly leans up, pecking his cheek with a bright smile as she teasingly whispers with a wink.

"Guess I'm not the only klutz here."

His previous words being used against him has the boy flushing bright red – internally trying to come up with any excuse – y/n continuing to giggle as she runs to her front door, unlocking it with a key.

But before disappearing inside, she looks back at him to give him a small wave.

"Get home safe Katsuki! Love you!"

"Tch yeah yeah, love you too... Now get inside before you get sick, it's freezing out here!"

He waits before she laughs in response and closes the door behind her, relaxing his shoulders as he stands there motionless.

The intimate moment replaying in his head on loop as his legs give out, he crouches on the middle of the sidewalk, holding his face in shock at what just happened.

A subtle smile appearing on his face as he recalls it all, oblivious to y/n's similar reaction as she enters her room, falling against her bed as she hugs her plushie – one that he bought her on their first ever date – squealing into the fluffy material with a joyful expression.

The two can only hope to see each other soon, their classmates noticing the couple seeming extra close after the break, all curious as to what events unfolded to cause such a shift. 

Katuski Bakugo falling in love was explosive.

✦ ⎯⎯⋆ ˚｡⋆ ୨ masterlist || taglist || intro || socials ୧⋆ ˚｡⋆⎯⎯ ✦

a/n ||| this was a request i received in my inbox yesterday! i actually don't take requests but it was the first message i ever got with a fic suggestion – so i wrote it to test the waters – as im thinking about opening requests in the future hehe. i hope u liked this anonymous, whoever sent this idea in, this is for u!!! tags ||| @leleyro @zaiban2989 @qyuin ໒꒰ྀི ´๑  ̫๑`  ꒱ྀིა

[misslycoris]

THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT!

I CAN FINALLY LEAVE! MARTHA I'M COMING HOME SWEETIE

But in all seriousness I thank you all for sticking through Signed, Alastor, there had been times when I was just completely over it and stopped writing and yet through it all your comments really helped on getting rid the annoying effects of writer's block. Stick around if you wanna hear my yappings and a few details about this story in general, or not, it's been great having you guys as my audience either way.

• In an Alternate Universe Somewhere...

Squeaks and George were never even planned right until a few days after the supposed release of this fic. I've mentioned this in the first chapter as a passing comment but I wasn't kidding when I said I wrote eight chapters worth of content about a different plot. It wasn't until a few days before the release of the first episode of Hazbin that I completely scrapped it in favor of the current plot of Signed, Alastor. I was thankful that I did because this was the first fic that I truly hauled my shit together and made a whole ass organizer and timeline chart.

How different was the plot? Basically, the story starts with Alastor meeting the reader again after having them tailor his suit, they were previously close friends and the story's about them catching up with each other. There will be flashbacks that will start from the day they met and until the time they parted ways. During this there will be a lingering thread that the reader isn't truly who they seem to be and the first arc will end with the reveal of who they are and Alastor's death in 1933. I'll tell you guys what it is since I don't have any plans on reviving that story, the reader would be revealed to be an angel and that they died a few years after they got separated from Alastor. Reader saw how Alastor was with his whole murder schtick and wanted to try and dissuade him, eventually culminating in being sent back down to Earth.

It's a bit of a jumbled mess but it doesn't work in the end and they both fall to Hell. The second arc will then start in their afterlife, with Alastor at odds with the reader, I'd say even treat them as an enemy or something similar. They'll eventually work their way back to being friends, maybe something more. So in a way, that part stayed with this story.

I'm kind of grateful I changed it, I adore the current plot and wouldn't be any happier with how it turned out. But who knows? In an alternate universe, I could've continued down that old route.

• My Original Vision of the Story

This was supposed to be a much more lighthearted book actually, it was supposed to have stories contained only within each chapter and maybe like have one plot that connects each of them kind of like how cartoons work, you can go to any chapter and not be confused as to what was going on. It was supposed to be more centered on Squeaks as a person and it's just them navigating through their occupation as a postmaster. Each chapter would be a different adventure and then they would meet the Vees, the Hotel, and it's just random hijinks for the sake of hijinks. I eventually deviated from that as time went on and I just went with the flow as I did.

• Interpretation of Alastor

This incessant, annoying, showy, overgrown Bambi has always been and will always be my favorite. It truly makes me happy when people comment that my interpretation of Alastor is something that they appreciate and think is accurate. Gives my needless fixation on him some use.

Another thing to talk about is his sexuality, I don't have the right to tell people how to write Alastor and I also enjoy Alastor acting out of character and being a fluffy softie. As a bit of a confession, I have a oneshot series that I didn't move into this site that portrays Alastor differently, looking back at it now I'll probably delete a few chapters since I'm starting to regret my choices back then. It was my choice to make his character act the way he does in this fic but I'm not opposed to people taking his character on a different route! Everyone has the freedom to write whatever they want, even if I don't necessarily like it those stories weren't written with my opinions in mind. If you don't like it, don't read it. It's the rule of thumb for fanfiction.

If I have to describe how it feels to write about Alastor it's like trying to walk on a rickety old bridge that'll probably break at any moment. Alastor, who's canonically asexual, possibly aromantic, is an enigma that I lose sleep over every night trying to understand and I bet you he probably would find it amusing. I try to keep both worlds happy, where people who'd prefer to keep Alastor opposed to traditional romance and people who'd like to see him in a more romantic light are both happy with this fic. Optimistic in nature, difficult to execute you get what I mean? Of course this doesn't imply that asexual people can't experience love! It's just that Alastor's a complex character that has a lot of nuances. At the very least I hope I <strong>m</strong>ade something that didn't offend anyone, invalidate Alastor's orientation and identity, or just kept this fic from being weird in general.

But the fact that this is a reader pairing already fails the not-weird plan. In the future I'll just shut up and pick a kind of Alastor to write consistently.

• The Series Itself

I've been in the fandom for over half a decade now and looking back at it I never expected Hazbin Hotel to really make an impact, especially with me being a writer, I have a lot to be thankful of and I'm happy to see the show make it to where it is but I also have my gripes about certain aspects of it.

Do I still like Hazbin Hotel? Sure! I still believe it's a darling little series that started with a pretty strong passion. But the series has its flaws and I can't say it's the best out there. Not to mention ths several instances from both the fandom and its creator that made me want to curl up into a ball and dissolve.

• Will I Be Continuing This Book?

Most likely? I want to make small little special epilogues every now and then but as far as the main story goes this one is already done. I'll also be coming back to edit this book frequently, or as frequent as my schedule allows me to be so look out for that.

• Future Projects

Will there be any other fics after this? Yes! Eventually? Someday? Okay, I may or may not have something already planned but I'll probably hold off until Season 2 comes out. But I do want to start a new fic! I just don't know when it'll be out exactly, maybe it'll be after S2, maybe before, maybe during. I'm not gonna spoil you on the details but it will be about an OP reader since some of you are really vocal about the apparent lack of it.

Although if you're paying attention, you can probably guess what the title of that new book will be.

• A Special Thank You

This is dedicated to all those talented stars that made fanart for this silly little book of mine. These always made me so happy and I still can't believe that so many of you dedicated your time and effort in these lovely drawings.

baezzz-mid on Tumblr

pieofpieee on Twitter/X (couldn't find the fanart but please check them out they're amazing)

cyan-111de on Tumblr

melesmania on Tumblr

song_stat on Twitter/X

aliensketches on Instagram

kattywattyisonhere on Tumblr

If you have the time, go check them out! They have other cool stuff in their pages and deserve all the love we're legally allowed to give. Again, thank you so so so much!

oekakii on Tumblr

And with that, I have nothing else to yap about, it was fun writing this but for now thank you and goodnight! See you on the other side. For any further comments I'll be here, lurking around for a few days or so before I fall off the face of the Earth.

Signed,

misslycoris ♡

[starrycassi]

NSFW warning lol

Fic idea.

Title: Parting gift.

Premise:

Mel Medarda is leaving. Which is fine. Her one and only ally in the council, fleeing the country, called by blood. Sevika is not bothered by it. She has done more with less. She is great at it.

However, she is also great at gambling.

.

Or the one where Sevika looks at the ruins and rumbles that her home has turned into, and decides that she needs some backup. Giving Mel Medarda a cunnilingus was not, necessary, part of the plan.

Basically: Sevika goes to ask Mel to let her choose who will take her seat once she leaves for Noxus (with Ekko/Scar/another firelight in mind). She is not good at subtle political banter and is definitely not against giving Mel a good last night in the country. Idk man they're both hot and I'm a mess.

Pros:

??????

I don't think I even have to say it. Like. HELLO???

Could explore ekko's need to put himself first/sense of responsibility towards Zaun. I think his relationship with Sevika would actually be extremely good for both of them. Of course, there's the whole "Silco vs firelights" thing, but both these people have absolutely no one else left. Like, aside from Vi for ekko, WHO is supporting these two in the aftermath of the war. Because I know it ain't fucking Singed.

Writing Sevika try to navigate political grounds would be interesting. She, of course, knows the ropes, but has absolutely no way to actually use those ropes. Silco and her used violence so much that I bet it's her main default. What she gonna do?? "Oh I'll get Zaun to beat your ass" girl you already tried that and everyone went to jail. What political power does this woman have? She can not outviolence, outpay or outnumber these people. I'm not saying she is a dumb brute with only brawn and no brains, but, let's be honest with ourselves, NO ONE respects her in that bloody room like

Sevika hating on Vi and ignoring the clear option of making her a councelor vs Vi trying her hardest to avoid Any Sort Of Responsibility for at least two months after the war.

Cons:

Not that good at writing sex scenes.

Would start crying out of jealousy in the middle of them kissing.

My political knowledge all comes from my mom being a lawyer/dad an attorney. Like, it's all second hand. Probably good enough but idk.

Probably would not be ale to keep it as an oneshot and I'm NOT going to write one series rn. I actually have one fic I haven't updated in a month and should be writing that.

[catindabag]

That’s it. Here are my personal Top 10 favorite TBOSAS fanfics to read on the weekends.

PS: Most of them were published even before the trailer for the upcoming movie premiered.

So here are my recommendations:

1. The Plinth Prize by Redex

This oneshot is a certified classic angsty Snowjanus/SnowPlinth fic. And honestly, this is why I support my fellow SnowPlinth shippers, cuz this story could definitely replace the last 3 chapters of TBOSAS and I wouldn’t even question it.

2. Nothing to lose by HopelessRomantikk

This oneshot is another Snowjanus/SnowPlinth fic. However, this one is quite romantically sweet as cinnamon with lots of kisses. Just play the song Say Yes to Heaven by Lana Del Rey in the background and you’re good to go.😘

3. Reflections of the Garden by madzdolin

This one is an angsty SnowBaird fic that actually gives you one of the best bittersweet endings ever. It also gave the readers a proper closure to Coryo’s relationship with both Lucy Gray and Sejanus. You might even cry a little when you read the last chapter. Just saying~.😚

4. Saving Each Other by flipflop_diva

This oneshot is one of those unique SnowBaird fics that gives the readers a good “What if” scenario to seriously think about, cuz in this AU, Coryo doesn’t escape the Arena with Sejanus. So he’s basically stuck with Lucy Gray as another “tribute,” until they both won by waiting and poisoning everybody else. And yes, Reaper was not amused.

5. You Complete Me by gaytriforce

This oneshot is another classic Snowjanus/SnowPlinth confession fic. Moreover, I really loved the simple way of how they got together. And to be honest, this short fic could replace the whole Peacekeeper arc and I wouldn’t even notice the change.

6. Pursuit Predation by evaerobics

This oneshot is that rare Snowjanus/SnowPlinth AU fic that deserves another 50 chapters. It basically gives the readers a “What if” scenario where Coryo was chosen to Mentor District two’s male Tribute, Sejanus Plinth. And yes, Sejanus kissed Coryo in front of his classmates before entering the Capitol Arena.

7. The last two loves of his life by boneslen

This one is a good bittersweet angsty SnowBaird/SnowPlinth fic. Basically, Lucy Gray was forced to become an Avox by Dr. Gaul. Sejanus is still dead. And Coryo is busy having a mental breakdown every second of the day. The newly elected President of Panem just really wants both his girlfriend and boyfriend back, ok. The Bi-panic is real with this one.

8. Roses and Nutmeg by PliaPlia

This Snowjanus/SnowPlinth oneshot features a very stressed out malnourished AF Coryo, who became quite ill because he keeps giving away his food to a very busy Tigris. Seriously, somebody give the poor cabbage boy some soup. Sejanus, call your Ma and feed your future boyfriend.

9. Feverish Dreams by Cordeliadumaurier

Let’s just agree that this long ass SnowBaird fic has the craziest story of the season. I mean, the revenge plot alone is amazing, and every single character is insane in their own way, even Lucy Gray. Moreover, everyone is just borderline obsessed with Coryo’s dead dad, Crassus Snow. Even dead Dean Casca Highbottom was freaking in love with Snow’s dead dad! So yeah, they’re all obsessed, depressed, and crazy. Everyone needs therapy, but Snow still lands on top. #Crasca4ever

10. The Sound of Snow Falling by PRES_CS_HGT

This HG/TBOSAS fic is one of my personal favorites. The plot alone is great and unique in its own way, because it features a very young and confused 5’4 and a half Coryo Snow waking up after the end of the Second Rebellion. Also, the new President, Alma Coin wants to place him inside the Arena as a Tribute for the crimes he doesn’t even remember committing. And his assigned Mentor, Katniss Everdeen hates him for some reason. And what the heck happened to Tigris?! Why is she so old?! And why does she look like a literal tiger?! Who knows, Coryo Snow.

Special Mention:

1. I’m so sorry, Coryo by HopelessRomantikk

Basically, this features Sejanus Plinth’s angsty POV in TBOSAS, and how he was secretly in love with Coryo Snow since forever. However, he still meets the same fate here.

2. The needle in the brain by Sweetlit

This TBOSAS AU fic is already wild and spicy like some Lana Del Rey album. The plot alone is great and full of mysteries. Moreover, this story’s “What if” scenario features a very desperate and depressed Coryo Snow seducing a heartbroken Dean Casca Highbottom to let him stay in the Capitol after winning the Hunger Games. And let’s just agree that if ever Crassus Snow reads this fic, he might as well burn Panem to the ground.

3. The Hanging Tree by SirFanfic

This oneshot features a regretful Coryo Snow, who decided to have a last minute change of heart and saved Sejanus from being hanged.

[tamamatango]

“Holy shit they actually froggin did it”: A Keroro Gunso anime revival preliminary info and speculation post (late as hell edition)

Okay first of all,

AWAKEN

That’s right, vanished-into-the-void bastard Kirb here, I am an alive person still, though I’m certain a lot of stuff on this blog is horrifically outdated. Don’t get too used to my presence, I’m a whole ass adult with a 9-to-5 now and don’t really have the energy to put into consistently maintaining this account, at least not to the degree that I used to (took me well over a whole ass MONTH just to write this post). However, I’ve returned for a special occasion, as basically anyone still in this fandom is already aware considering it’s been forever now:

We are so fucking back

It took thirteen years and counting, but here we are, a brand new Keroro anime project is in the works—no “the short anime of all time” Flash series here, this is the real deal, straight out of 2004–2011, and goddamn is it beautiful. I might’ve been off the mark when I called it for the 15th anniversary, but it’s now the 20th, five years later, and the madmen did what was once thought impossible by many.

So let’s break down what the hell is actually going on here, because when this got revealed last month, Keroro fans on all sides of the globe basically started collectively running around like headless chickens. I’m gonna divide this aggregation post into the following sections:

Where did this even come from

Clearing up misconceptions

Okay so like what is “““Project”””

Collection of statements from official accounts, staff and cast, etc.

The Localization Question (TM)

Miscellaneous thoughts that don’t really fit anywhere else

I was originally going to make this a living document of sorts but some small stuff has already happened since I started drafting this the day after the reveal happened, so this should be it for the time being. It’s a hefty enough post as is. I am just a master procrastinator :V

That takes care of all the goofy intro nonsense, now for the parts you actually want to read, starting underneath the cut!

Section 1: The Signs Were There

As previously stated, 2024 is the 20th anniversary of the Keroro anime, along with the 25th anniversary of the manga’s serialization but apprently even they don’t care about that since they’ve made no fanfare around it whatsoever, unlike the joint 15th & 20th anniversary back in 2019. Maybe they will as we get closer to the manga anniversary in November, but for now-obvious reasons the anime has been overshadowing the manga side by a lot.

If you’ve been monitoring the Keroro PR account on Twitter (you bet your ass I’m still calling it that) you’ll have noticed an increasing output of Stuff over the last year or two, even compared to the prior anniversary. These include but are not limited to:

In 2021, the series opened an official YouTube Channel, where they’ve been doing reruns of the anime (region locked to Japan), PR podcasts, etc. It’s also where the revival announcement premiered on April 1 at midnight JST.

In 2023, the series opened an official Fan Club with a paid membership. Originally it was a temporary project meant to last for only the two anniversary years (2023 for the pilot oneshot’s anniversary, and 2024 for the anime/manga), but was ultimately extended indefinitely due to “good reception” (my guess is it was always planned to be more than two years but they didn’t want to make it too easy to guess as early as last year that the anime was returning lol). They have a merch store, giveaways, and some kind of social component. I don’t know much about it otherwise because it’s a paid membership that I don’t have access to.

The series has had an overall increase in merchandise and collabs since 2022 or so. This has pretty much always been the case, but there was a bit of a lull between the Flash series ending and the ramp-up period to this (I’d start at 2021 when the YouTube channel opened). Save for the 15th/20th stuff in 2019, for which the major project was Keroro UC, a spinoff manga/plamo line that just…never released all the models and has never been brought up again. Guess it didn’t do very well :V

A number of international releases/rereleases happened as well, but I’ll get into that a little bit more in its dedicated section. For now let’s just say that the anime being finally licensed and put up on streaming in North America may indicate the new series will be English translated in some capacity. It’s also made a resurgence in Korea, its biggest market outside Japan, where it’s had new exhibitions and collab cafes, a redub (that only got through 2 seasons I think), and even a new mobile game.

And finally, a week or so before the announcement, a new Twitter account was created specifically for the anime side of the brand. I think this was really the big tip-off, as Keroro PR has been the hub for all things related to the franchise for the last nearly 15 years, even when the original anime itself was still running during Twitter’s infancy. Keroro PR has posted everything for every other anime anniversary. The fact that now all of a sudden they had to sector off the anime stuff into its own account made it clear something bigger was going on. (Accordingly, the Keroro Anime account has labeled Keroro PR the “original work” account, AKA the manga side of things.)

Essentially I think they’ve been planning this to some degree since as long ago as 2021, the first time the president of Bandai Namco Pictures (animation studio comprised of Sunrise staff that took over the Keroro IP in 2015 and are now producing the new anime) openly acknowledged the possibility. I’ll just link my own tweet with the translation of his statement here. This was right around the opening of the YouTube channel, so I don’t think it’s a coincidence.

tl;dr Momentum for the anime component of the franchise has been building for the past couple of years pointing toward a new anime around the 20th anniversary, so I wouldn’t say this comes off as a huge surprise, though I was expecting something smaller scale than what we might be getting (more on that in the “what is this” section).

Section 2: No It’s Not April Fools, Guys, Plus Other Clarifications

With the announcement spreading across the internet, I’ve seen a few points of confusion going around that I’d like to clear up before I go any further.

As I’ve made clear in the section title, yes the new anime was revealed on April 1, no this is not a prank. A lot of Japanese companies do post April Fools pranks, but keep in mind April also marks the start of the new fiscal year in Japan, so many legitimate announcements are made as well. Plus, the original anime’s exact anniversary was on April 3, just a couple of days after the announcement.

I’ve seen a lot of people call this a new series, season, etc., but officially, the only term used to describe this so far is “new anime project”. That could mean literally anything, from TV series to movie to ONA and so on. I am leaning closer to a certain interpretation, which is what the entire next section is for, but for the time being, calling it anything other than “new anime” is technically not concrete info.

There seems to be a little bit of confusion on what studio is working on this, but in short: it's Bandai Namco Pictures (BN Pictures or BNP for short). As previously mentioned, this is the studio that inherited the Keroro IP when it spun off from Sunrise in 2015. Sunrise, the anime's original studio, is now a brand name for the larger anime management company Bandai Namco Filmworks. Although they've held the IP for almost a decade, this is the first time they've really gotten to do anything with it besides merchandise licensing and some anti-piracy commercial from a few years ago that they’ve ironically scrubbed from the internet now. If you've seen the name Studio BIND (Mushoku Tensei, Onimai) floating around, they're assisting with the production but are not the primary animation studio. Of course this is all assuming this setup continues on to the final project and not just for the PV, but I see no reason to assume otherwise at the moment. It would be rather unusual for BNP to outsource anything if it was solely for a 30 second trailer.

I think that does it for the main points of contention I wanted to address for now, so moving on to the thing we all really want to know…

Section 3: Okay But What Is It Actually???

Well, as I said in the previous section—we don't know, lol. At least not officially. But if we put our thinking caps on, we can make a few deductions:

The anime project will be broadcast on TV. In other words, it won't be an ONA (original net animation). This is determined based on the fact that TV Tokyo, the network the original anime aired on, is on the production committee. For those who don't know, a production committee for an anime is the collection of parties/companies who contribute to the production and funding of the anime. For comparison, the Keroro Flash Series, which aired only on the TV channel Animax to accompany a dedicated timeslot for the original anime reruns, did not have TV Tokyo in its committee. So, it will likely air on TV Tokyo once again.

It's (probably) not a movie. This is going to be more evidenced by point 3 than anything, but BNP has been pretty clear about when something is a movie specifically in the past, such as when Kaiketsu Zorori had various feature films in the 2010s before getting an actual TV anime revival in 2020. Still, we can't be 100% sure until someone directly says otherwise.

It's going to be more than a one-off. I will post the statement in full in the next section, but the Keroro PR account uses specific wording (“resumption,” “new start,” etc.) that sounds very much like they’re making a longer term commitment, so this is straight from the horse’s mouth, essentially.

The series will be a continuation of the 2004-2011 series rather than a reboot. This one’s probably my flimsiest prediction as the PR statements sort of obfuscate whether it’s one or the other, but the character bios section on the new anime portal site gives away a big hint: the Garuru Platoon, Pururu included, is there. This means that we can reason that, at minimum, all or part of Season 3 has already occurred. The character bios themselves also summarize things that weren’t revealed until a little while into the show, such as how Momoka and Tamama met. That all said, the Garuru Platoon members do not have bios, so I suppose they want to keep what’s being done with them a bit of a secret; perhaps they intend to reintroduce them with some kind of dramatic arc again. Either way, if the series does retread/retell some old material, it probably won’t be the bulk of the story. This makes sense to me, as it’s not like the show has been so hard to find in the last decade that a reboot is necessary to get a modern audience on board—it reruns constantly on kids’ TV channels like the Japanese version of Cartoon Network, is available in full on multiple streaming platforms (movies included), and is now on its second rebroadcast of the whole series episode by episode on the YouTube Channel. Unless you’re a literal toddler, if you’re interested in the series, you’ve probably watched at least some of it already.

In conclusion, based on the above (admittedly sparse) evidence, I am inclined to believe the new anime project is a TV series that will air on TV Tokyo as the 2004 anime did and will be a continuation rather than a reboot; however, there is no way to determine episode length, episode count, etc. at this time. It could be a cour (for those who don't know anime, "cour" is your average 12-episode season), it could be consecutive cours, it could be split cour (in other words, goes on break for a season before returning), it could even be a year-round anime if they really wanna go all the way with it. Granted, I hesitate to believe that they would do the latter simply due to the nature of anime production these days, and as far as I know, BNP has not done a single year-round airing since its founding. Even the aforementioned Kaiketsu Zorori revival was a two cour (24-25 eps) series each year from 2020-2022. My guess is we're looking at something similar here, but Keroro is a pretty big deal, so could they make an exception? Maybe, but this setup would already lead to more episodes than the vast majority of anime these days, so it would still be plenty enough to be happy with.

Considering all this and the list of numerous hints that we were potentially getting a new anime as far back as three years ago as bulleted in Section 1, you might question what made me doubt that it could be a series in the first place. Well, besides just the series being so old and it being so long since the anime ended that it felt a little like wishful thinking, at least three members of the cast said that a new series was not something they were specifically looking to do...I think, anyway. Let me explain.

Last year, on December 9, a Keroro birthday event with Kumiko Watanabe (Keroro), Etsuko Kozakura (Tamama), and Takeshi Kusao (Dororo) was hosted in person and livestreamed on TwitCast for fans that paid for a ticket. There were two timeslots for the in person event, and only the evening show was streamed, with the afternoon one being in person only. Now that I have adult money, and being the impulse driven gremlin that I am, I paid for the virtual ticket. Most of it was just cute little segments like the three cast members doing live commentary on some of the birthday episodes, discussing the results of a “favorite lines from their characters” poll hosted on Twitter a few weeks before the event, and a brief visit from Jashin-chan of Jashin-chan Dropkick/Dropkick on My Devil, a series that Keroro recently collabed with for a series of merchandise. Unfortunately the event wasn't archived publicly and they specifically asked to not upload materials to social media, and I'd like to respect that request mostly out of consideration for the cast, so you will just have to take my word for it :P (besides those who were watching me talk about it in real time on discord).

The reason I'm going on this tangent is because, at the end of the stream, a special prerecorded video featuring the three cast members was shown exclusively for virtual attendees. In it they essentially explained that they still greatly enjoy the characters/series and would love to partake in more events and projects, but "not necessarily a new series." I promise you I listened to this clip over and over the entire time it was available and that's what I heard. Now look, the room they recorded this in was echo-y, and my Japanese is pretty decent (enough for my N2 anyways, yeah I did that while I was away from here clap clap) but listening comprehension is my weaker area, so maybe I just take a massive L here. When I started writing this post there was a sentence here guessing about whether they were just being cheeky or didn’t know yet, but an interview came out last month that gave what’s all but a conclusive answer to that. More on it in the next section but tl;dr, they likely did not know it was happening at all. Well, at least they got to be as surprised as we were :V

Anyways now that the thing has been revealed none of the last two paragraphs even matter, so I just prattled on for no reason besides to admit my own shame. Next bit.

Section 4: SAUCE PLOX??? (Current testimonies from relevant people/entities)

Naturally, when the trailer dropped, we got a pretty decent handful of comments from whatever staff and cast are on social media. Most of these are just people going “yay we’re back hooray!” (paraphrased) but the Keroro PR account statements are actually kinda sorta hints? So I’ll start out with those. There’s two tweets that I want to highlight here:

First is from April 1 (JST), the day of the reveal. In this tweet the account wishes everyone well for the new school/fiscal year, but the important part is the last sentence, This can be translated any number of ways (thanks to yoroshiku onegaishimasu and its 50 potential meanings, every Japanese translator’s worst nightmare), but essentially it’s something along the lines of “we hope you’ll support the restart/resumption of the Keroro anime for a long time to come.”

The keywords here are obvious: 再始動 (saishidou) meaning either restart or resumption. I know you’re probably thinking those are two very different things, but the nuance here is that it’s more of a restart in production than restart of the continuity. For the latter, I think it’s more common to see リメイク, which is just the English word “remake” in katakana. Worth noting that the Flash anime used none of these words in its marketing, but it did use language such as “brand new invasion plan,” “rebirth of Keroro,” and so on…in addition to, you know, having a completely different artstyle and a title change to just “Keroro”, which this clearly does not (the artstyle is relatively faithful to the old one and the project is under the original Keroro Gunso name).

The other big word is 末永く(suenagaku), which…also doesn’t have one exact translation, but implies somewhere between years or even an indefinite period of time. I didn’t want to say a specific unit of time in my translation of the statement because well, we can’t really be sure of anything here, but either way, they’re signaling that they’re most likely in it for the long haul.

Then there’s the tweet from the PR account commemorating the actual anniversary of the original anime (April 3). This one uses 新しいスタート, “new start”—no real multiple definition shenanigans here, this is about as literal and straightforward as you can get. In terms of the reboot or not question, this could lean either way, but it definitely adds to theory that it is a series of some sort.

Okay, that’s all for the individual tweets I’m gonna totally overanalyze, otherwise I’d be stuck here for even longer than I already have been. Here’s a quick list of involved staff who tweeted about the reveal:

Unsurprisingly, Kumiko Watanabe (Keroro) posted that day, reiterating that it is real and saying “believe usssss!” (As a reminder, half the internet was convinced it was April Fools for like a whole week)

Adding to the cast comments, Etsuko Kozakura (Tamama) says, “Whoo-hoo! Can’t wait for more news! Keroro Gunso is still the greatest!!”

Jouji Nakata (Giroro) didn’t make a specific comment about the trailer, but has been retweeting the other official accounts and such and replying about it, so he has acknowledged it otherwise. As a substitute, here’s a picture of him visiting the Keroro Exhbition in Ikebukuro a day early.

Here’s an interesting one—Haruna Ikezawa (Momoka) said about the trailer, “Really?! Is this real?!?!?!” While no cast members outside of the Keroro Platoon were officially revealed to be reprising their roles, I’m assuming they’re going to try their best to reassemble as much of the cast as of season 7 as possible—besides Keiji Fujiwara (Paul/Narrator), who sadly passed away in 2020—so I kind of figured Ikezawa would know about this, but maybe not…? Well, considering that the main five were completely blindsided by this to the point where they weren’t even sure this was a real thing until they were in the middle of recording it (as I said previously, more on that later), I suppose the other cast members were just. Not told. I don’t really doubt Ikezawa would return (she even stated it could happen someday all the way back when the then-final season ended in 2011 and did come back for Flash)…but unless they were like really worried about leaks why even keep them in the dark to learn with the rest of the public, idk man :V (so much for not overanalyzing tweets huh)

On to production staff now, here’s the tweet from Satoshi Koike, animation director of the latter third of the original and also the reveal trailer, indicating that he’s most likely back for the new project. It’s just a simple “Welcome back! (de arimasu)” but the images he used were drawn back in 2019 to commemorate the start of the Reiwa era, spoofing the original lyrics of the first opening. The reveal trailer tweet itself from the Keroro Anime account does this too (“Starting today, the Reiwa era shall be known as the Keroro era!”).

New to the staff is Jouji Furuta (yes we have two Joujis now har har), who did the storyboards and direction for the trailer. He’s relatively new to the scene as a whole, with his most well known project being Shaman King Flowers. Although he never worked on the series before, he did a pretty good job emulating the original, and based on the last line of the tweet, it seems like he will be staying on for the full project as well.

And now for a kind of weird section where I talk about the few related accounts that the Keroro anime twitter is following but haven’t made any kind of verbal acknowledgement yet.

First and foremost is Mine Yoshizaki—you know, the guy who created the fucking series, whose name is on the copyright string and whose explicit permission they had to get to do another anime in the first place? Yeah so it’s been over a month since the reveal now and there has been zero acknowledgement from him. I do know his personal social media account has been inactive for quite a few years now (I feel like the anime account is only even following it for symbolic reasons), but he had multiple other opportunities to say something at this point. He did contribute some signed artwork to the anime-focused exhibition that just ended but nowhere in it does he directly mention the new adaptation, and so far he hasn’t commented on it in Shonen Ace (maybe in the next volume, assuming that’s soonish). I have my theories about his relationship to the anime, especially now that the Kemono Friends fiasco has occurred, but that’s all a story for another day or never. I’m sure he’ll contribute something later, but even so it’s just really bizarre to have nothing to say about your biggest creation’s first new adaptation in over a decade. Oh well.

Character designer Fumitoshi Oizaki, who has been around since the beginning if I remember correctly, has been retweeting things, but no official comment just yet. (He discretely left a message at the expo apparently, but didn’t post it online, so no idea if it mentions the new anime.) He isn’t credited on the trailer, but considering he’s still been pretty involved with the franchise’s promotion over the last few years, I would be very surprised if he wasn’t returning.

Last but certainly not least is Junichi Sato, the chief director for the original anime for the first two seasons, arguably its most well-known and critically praised era. He’s also a very notable director in his own right, having headed other famous series like early Sailor Moon and Ojamajo Doremi. Sato didn’t direct the original anime for the majority of its runtime (though he did direct the first four movies), but he still directs and storyboards on projects to this day, including for other franchises’ major anniversaries (namely Doremi and Precure). Though not certain, I think it’s very possible that he returns for this in some capacity, if not as director than perhaps for storyboarding or general advising.

To close out the testimony section, I’m going to share here the translation I did of the aforementioned interview with Kumiko Watanabe in last month’s issue of Newtype (anime-centric magazine published by Kadokawa). I won’t re-summarize it here since it’s not particularly long, but the main takeaways from this in terms of hints as to what we can expect are that a) the cast was surprised by this and potentially didn’t even know back in December when they last discussed the possibility of working on Keroro again, and b) as I previously speculated, this is going to be a long term enough project that at least Watanabe feels the need to physically prepare for it lol. And thankfully, it seems they’re all excited to go back to the series. I spent a long time thinking they might not be up to it again since it’s been so long and they’re much later in their lives/careers (Nakata just turned 70 oh man) but I’m glad I was wrong! Though I don’t expect this to be another 300 episode commitment anyway; in spite of the PR comments I don’t think we’re going for that long with the nature of anime production these days lmao.

And now for a topic which I think many of you are concerned about…

Section 5: “But what if my 日本語 is not 上手???” (The Localization Question)

If you did not get the joke in the above headline without looking it up, it’s probably safe to assume that if you want to watch this Thing, you will need it in a language other than Japanese (and even if you did get the joke you will know if you are truly 日本語上手 when people stop saying 日本語上手 to you). I’m going to focus on English for this post since that’s the primary language of the audience here, though I would be very shocked if there isn’t at minimum a Korean translation—dub more likely than sub imo, since the most famous version of the show there had different names for the characters and was changed to be set in Korea, and the series is HUGE there to the point where it almost rivals the Japanese market.

So, English. Well, if it were a few years ago (say, if this came during the 15th anniversary like I was originally coping over), I would be markedly less optimistic about getting any official translation at all. At that time, the dub was explicitly dead and the only English sub had been delisted for a few years, and even that was only available in a select few countries in Continental Europe on a pretty obscure streaming service called Viewster for like a year or two before getting pulled. It’s no surprise that this particular sub eventually became more well known as the subs on the torrents compiled by ColdFusion (whoever that was, I’m still not sure myself). That was until…

…the magical year of 2021, when our heroes at Discotek licensed the ENTIRE SERIES (minus the movies) for an official English release using Viewster’s existing translations! That’s right, we got all of it. And not only that, the whole series was also added to Crunchyroll, though only the sub; Discotek had the Funimation dub but it seems it did not get ported to Crunchyroll when the merger happened this year. It does seem that Crunchy has still not made the series available outside of the US and Canada, which is a shame, but man is it still surreal to have the entire series legally available both digitally and physically after nearly two decades of scattered fansubs and hardly accessible official releases. Surely this was a huge win for Discotek, right?

Weeeeeell…no. Of course they weren’t able to say it out loud, but it’s been extremely heavily implied that unfortunately the BluRay/DVD releases flopped for them, and they did say they definitely won’t be getting the movies or the Flash series. They also stopped releasing the discs on a one season a year basis and started bundling them together, with seasons 5–7 coming out all at once later this year, so they’re clearly trying to just get it off their plates. To be honest, this was pretty predictable because…it’s been on Crunchyroll since before the discs even came out. Look, physical media is super cool and all, but who in this economy is going to pay $40-60 per box for a handful of seasons at most when they can get the whole damn thing on their phone for like $8 a month. Crunchyroll isn’t necessarily a disc killer; their release of Digimon Adventure, for example, still seemingly did well despite that series being available on Crunchyroll two years prior, but in addition to Digimon being more popular in the west, it’s one $60 purchase for the whole series versus having to spend like over $200 for 358 episodes. I applaud them for rolling the dice and trying to get this behemoth of a release out there, but I’m not surprised about the lack of financial returns.

However, since Crunchyroll now has set a precedent of having the original series available on their platform, we just might get the new series available on there as well—if not as a simulsub, then at least dropped in batches later on. I’m not 100% confident in this, particularly because technically Discotek still holds the license, but my guess based on the way they’ve talked about the series is that they’re pretty open to someone else taking it off their hands when they’re done releasing the original series (and the translations weren’t originally theirs to begin with anyways, they purchased them and did some touch-ups to the existing translation with added typesetting). As far as simulsubs go, the kids’ shows that get simulsubbed tend to be from Toei, with whom Crunchyroll has a known partnership. But if it is split into cours rather than being a year-round anime, I think the chances of a simulsub go up. Whatever the case may be, it’s for sure in a better position to get an official subtitled release than it ever was before. I’m certainly praying this happens because I believe most of the people capable of fansubbing (with good translation anyway) have gradually moved away from the fandom over the last decade for various reasons—myself included, though mostly I just quit fansubbing/scanlation in general for Personal Reasons(TM). Fingers crossed, everyone.

So subs remain as a not-guaranteed-but- definitely-not-low possibility. But what about a dub? If you recall, Keroro has had a very rocky history in 3D with English dubs, with the American dub being in licensing hell for years before finally falling into Funimation’s lap and subsequently failing to take off despite remaining a beloved cult classic to Some Fans (I am not as high on it, but longtime Kirb followers probably know that by now), and the only other English dub is relegated to the network Animax in Hong Kong + Southeast Asia with no official home release, leaving all of it besides parts of seasons 3 and 4 as lost media (and the voice acting sucked ass but at least the script was accurate). But we’re not in the mid 2000s to early 2010s anymore; this is the screamin’ ’20s, baby! So much anime is getting dubbed now, sometimes at almost the same time as the Japanese release! There must be a chance, right?!

Eeeehhhhhh I wouldn’t bet on it. Even the Toei kids’ shows Crunchyroll started simulsubbing usually don’t get dubs (Digimon is an exception, and the reboot’s dub took YEARS to come out). Anime dubs, as far as I’m aware, are not cheap to produce (though it’d be great if more of what the companies are pocketing went to the actors’ wages >_>), and if the show does have the potential to become somewhat of a long runner, I think they’ll need to see more interest around the IP to fund one, and both Funimation and now Discotek’s releases have proved that the audience for it isn’t always there. I also speculate they’d be doing a lot of recasting; the casting process is not as smooth and (I believe) more expensive than it is in Japan, and a lot of the original cast are not working as often in the field anymore and/or have been involved with some pretty serious controversies—I’m sure those in the know are thinking of a specific drawn-out conflict but I’m pretty sure it’s more than just About Him at this point. So let’s just say that while some of the cast still remembers the show fondly, I think trying to get them all in the same project again would potentially open some cans of worms better off left closed. It’s not 100% impossible it gets dubbed, you never know what the industry can manage to make work these days, but I’d wager it’s like 90% not happening. Just a hunch. If anyone more knowledgable than me on anime localization (this goes for both the dub and sub stuff) would like to argue me with better explanations than I have I’d very much be glad to hear it.

Section 6: The Stuff That Doesn’t Fit Elsewhere + Final Thoughts

There’s not going to be any real organization to this section. Here’s just some bullets of miscellaneous stream of consciousness thoughts related to whatever:

The character bios page on the site linked in section 3 has some WEIRD romanization choices. I don’t expect these to reflect on any official localization because chances are they’ll go with what Viewster used, which is largely what the fandom is used to besides the Kululu/Kururu split. It is indeed Kululu here and Kululu has been the de facto official spelling for a very very long time now but I still have a personal preference for Kururu because “Kululu” loses the onomatopoeia joke and I’m a rebel. But like. “Tololo”? Since when has Tororo ever been called that in any media? And worst of all, “Pole”? POLE?? That’s literally never been a thing what glossary did they pull these from.

Also worth noting, Alisa and the Narrator had merchandise sold at the Keroro expo (will talk about that next btw) despite not being on the characters page. This isn’t a confirmation of anything but I would be very surprised if Alisa doesn’t return at some point since she was pretty prominent later in the show and Yoshizaki seems to have a particular fondness for her, and the Narrator will obviously be there with a recast, though jury’s out on if his little ’sona guy will show up too. It won’t be the same without Fujiwara :(

I do want to touch upon the “Keroro expo”, officially known as the “Keroro Gunso Super Gerogero Museum” (expo is a fine shorthand because the Japanese word can mean exhibition also), since I’ve mentioned it a couple times throughout this write-up. This was an event that was held in Ikebukuro just recently from April 27–May 12 that was basically a walkthrough experience recreating settings from the anime, having artwork and stuff sprinkled in between (all reused, no new concept art or anything sadly). The main gimmick was that the venue had an exclusive app that let you take AR pictures with models of the Keroro Platoon. It also had an AI chatbot feature where you could talk to each member of the platoon, and not too many posted pictures of this feature but apparently the chatbots were uhhhhhh weird. I have no idea how much of it is generative from other LLMs, and I’m assuming they programmed it at least partially with their own original input/databases (which is the only way to make generative AI even close to ethical), but from the few screenshots I’ve seen their speech was just a little bit awkward and some of the stuff they said was really bizarre. At one point users started to turn it into an otome game and successfully romanced the frogs, which I’m assuming is a little bit out of the bounds of what they were expecting from this experiment. If they do release that app publicly at some point—they labeled the version at the expo to be a “test version,” so maybe—I sincerely hope they at least fine tune it because Good Lord. Finally and maybe most importantly, there were new voice lines recorded for the exhibit to give it an audio-drama type simple story, but unfortunately it was probably not archived because video recording was not allowed inside the venue. The platoon all had new voice lines along with Fuyuki and Natsumi, reportedly still played by Houko Kuwashima and Chiwa Saito respectively, so most likely they will return to reprise the roles for the new anime, though I don’t think those two were much in question. That’s really like the only important part of this for the purposes of this post I’m not sure why I mentioned anything else here actually. AI chatbot Dororo wants you to know he enjoys tickles from Giroro and Tamama. Yeah this thing’s a little fucked

I didn’t want to get too deep into this in section 3 because it’s not really a production related question, but…are Shin Keroro and related new characters gonna be in this or not? For what it’s worth the site seems to count the Flash series as part of the anniversary celebration, and screenshots with Shin in them are there even if he is completely absent from the character page. Flash was a total reboot so I don’t think it will be that exact iteration of the character if he is in the new anime, but there must be some way to work his stuff into the existing anime canon even with its many differences from the manga. Honestly I think the main obstacle to him appearing is just that the guy is not very popular lol. He’s hardly in the manga anymore and Tomosu and Myou are in it even less. I’m not sure if it was just franchise fatigue following the end of the anime but the reception to Shin was very meh across the board (at least among longtime fans, kids might’ve liked him I think. Which makes sense). So I could totally see them skipping him entirely. There’s still a lot of post-anime manga-only stories without his involvement at all, some that included him but he could easily be changed to some other character, and for the stories that revolved around him, well, the Flash anime got to a decent amount of them. This could really go either way but for now I’m going to lean toward him not being included. If he’s put in I think it will not be until the “second season” (whatever the definition of that ends up being) so we can be eased back in to the existing cast first before shaking things up significantly.

I like the new artstyle, assuming it carries over from the trailer to the final project. It looks like they hit a happy medium between the early and late artstyles of the original anime. This is the most obvious with the human cast who haven’t received new official artwork by Koike and/or Oizaki in a looooong time, and they look much better than the last time we saw them in season 7 where everyone got weirdly lanky for some reason.

Okay FINALLY I’m done here for now I think. At the time of writing we’re pretty much just in a “wait and see” phase with no other real concrete info around that I haven’t touched upon in this post. Trust me, I’ve tried digging for more, but I couldn’t find anything really interesting staff-wise and very few of the staff credited in the trailer are even on social media (sometimes staff can be a bit loose-lipped so it’s possible to get hints there). I’ve also checked every nook and cranny of the official sites of both animation studios and the companies on the production committee and turned up with nothing of note. I’m hoping we get some more info at least sometime between now and autumn.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end (or speedscrolling here, don’t worry I won’t be disappointed lol). I hope you found it informative even though I probably spent way too much time yapping about dumb shit. It took me entirely too long to write this post, but I don’t have as much time as I did as a teenager and it’s been a good few years since I’ve done a really deep dive into Keroro stuff. Needless to say, I’m beyond excited for this project and can’t wait to see how the last seven years of me huffing unhealthy amounts of copium pays off. I’ve had like a month and a half to sit on it now and it honestly still doesn’t feel real!

I will most likely return to report when we get some amount of substantial info—hopefully with way fewer words lmao. Until next time! Ge-gero~

[kneelingshadowsalome]

Hi, can you tell me more about Gromsko one-shot, pretty please 💕.

Of course! 💕

It's not a oneshot per se because it has three different scenes, but basically Gromsko gets shot in his ass or something (a bullet scratches him and you know, he has to take his pants off for our medic!reader) and umm. Guy gets a boner because he's had a crush on her for ages and now he's finally here...! Getting touched by her! It's his lucky day!!

She's not impressed (she is) and throws his pants over that thing and there's a lot of banter, next time they see each other is at a bar where operators & the whole base crew like to go and things get even more flirty. Gromsko is in love with her after seeing she drinks beer out of all things and she's like "not gonna sleep with this guy not gonna sleep with this guy" until one day, he wants her to come and watch these mating birds with him and she's finally like "fuck it he's too cute".

Basically suggests he could take her against the wall (they're at a silent spot outside but there's still a chance someone might walk by) and Gromsko is like :O You're gonna just let me have it?! :D Because he's been trying to take her out to dinner for months and was about to lose all hope and now she's pulling both their pants down?! It's his lucky day! Again!!

(The ending implies that they start a relationship right after that because Gromsko is SERIOUS with her even if he has a "don't mind if I do" attitude about fucking her outside, he always had a bed in mind for their first time but this will do more than just fine ❤️)

[bonetrousledbones]

💥💥explosion sounds💥💥💥💥💥💥

halloo this is my blog for undertale-flavored skeletons. i like AUs a whole lot and have about 538 different versions of papyrus. dealing with fucking giga-burnout at the moment so things aren't super active but i sure am here

as of around january 2024, i don't post my art anywhere except for tumblr. as long as you ask for permission and credit me in your bio/pinned post i don't mind my art being used for profile pictures or banners, but otherwise i do not give permission for my art to be reposted or used anywhere, or for anything else. if you see my art reposted i would strongly appreciate it if you asked the poster to take it down and/or let me know so that i can ask them myself if needed. *this doesn't apply to reblogs, obviously.

i'm not gonna list out a whole DNI but i am gonna ask that proshippers & other folks who typically align with that crowd, please leave me alone. yall have not been kind to me in the past and i don't tolerate it anymore. it's a pain in the ass to block people from a sideblog & tumblr staff seems extremely uninterested in making that easier at any point so literally all i'm asking is for you to Please stay out of my space. thanks

other blogs/commonly used tags/other semi-relevant links under the cut. click read more if you wanna make the post reeaallly looonggg

@spingtail

^ main blog, pretty much just reblogs. i yap in the tags a lot

💥bonetrousledbones

^ literally just a link to the desktop theme for this blog that you're already looking at because i like it a lot and not enough people are ever gonna get to see it

but i paid $10 for it so You're Gonna See It

💥btw if you scroll down the sidebar and click on the tab titled "navigation" you can read everything on this post in a significantly less horrible format

@ask-the-bone-boys

^ my ask blog. currently inactive because of The Burnout but it's the thing i've worked on for 7 years now & what almost all the various AUs i talk about here are for.

when i talk about "atbb" this is what that is

basically imagine if underverse was papyrus and also that papyrus had something so very deeply wrong with him to the point that even other fucked up AUs are kinda weirded out. yeah sure that's the summary i'm gonna run with

I'm done working on the ask blog format (outside of the current ARG-flavored event I've had to pause) but eventually I'll be rewriting it into a fic series instead

here's the series on ao3 so far. it has 8 works, mostly oneshots for now but there's a few multichapters in there too. i consider them all prologues for the "main" story which is what i'll be rewriting

also here's just a bigass infodump about it too lol idk

@mothbbones

^ blog for non-undertale art. relatively inactive because undertale is basically all i draw but it has some ocs & sonic fanart on it

if you're interested in my 18+ secret blog, send me an ask OFF ANON so that i can confirm you're an adult and i'll give you the url. mostly papcest shipping thoughts, 18+ headcanons/character analysis, art once in a blue moon (not That kind)(yet), and other things i just don't feel like talking about over here. occasionally spammy & very disorganized compared to this blog lmao

common tags (excluding fandom/AU tags)

#trousled rambles <- basic text posts #trousled arts <- basically all of my art (wips are usually untagged) #trousled dumb <- stupid shit idk #trousled reblogs <- reblogs. believe it or not #awesome art that i adore <- fanart/gifts for me #skeletal speculations <- theories & analysis

#atbb <- for posts about the ask blog NOT gonna list out each atbb character tag one by one since this is already long enough, just look at the tags for this post here- it has all of them & the post itself also (kinda) says who's who

ok thats it as compensation if you read this far you can look at this weird fucking dog i found

[kivaember]

there's a startling lack of allmind/iguazu fics out there... anyway this is the start of an allmind/iguazu oneshot im writing, so... enjoy!

It started with an innocuous mission request.

"Rb19 Iguazu: as per your standing search query, one job meets your parametres. Location, Grid 086. Client, Junker Coyotes. Target, RaD. Payment: 100'000 COAM. Do you wish to accept this job as an independent contractor?"

It didn't stand out as anything unusual. Iguazu abused the 'independent contractor services' that ALLMIND offered to all mercenaries on Rubicon - be they corporate or independent - trying his best to build up some personal scratch that wasn't directly tied to the Redgun's operational budget.

Every single sortie he did under the Balam banner he basically did for free. After deducting ammunition, repairs, fuel and a bunch of other bullshit auxiliary costs, Iguazu was left with barely two coins to rub together. The Reguns existed in perpetual poverty, indentured servants despite most of them being in denial over it, and Iguazu refused to let himself be content with that.

So he accepted ALLMIND's offered missions on the sly, pocketing a considerable chunk of the pay after she deducted a 5% 'facilitation cost'. ALLMIND even paid for the ammunition and repairs! It was suspiciously generous, but no matter how much Iguazu wracked his brains, he didn't know what ALLMIND was getting out of this. She was an AI, she didn't really have ambitions. It was likely she was just programmed by a complete dumbass.

Well, her deficiencies were his gain. After a few more months, Iguazu might actually have enough money to negotiate for an early release from his Redgun contract, and finally leave this whole life behind him. So, when that innocuous mission request rolled round, no different to any other job he'd taken before through ALLMIND, he'd accepted it without question and departed.

It ended up being the biggest mistake of his life.

-

"DAMN IT!"

Iguazu slammed his fists against the arms of his cockpit seat, his vision half-dazzled by the blinking red emergency lights. There was a faint stench of burning, but he didn't move to evacuate his wreck of an AC, stewing quietly as EN ANAMOLY flashed across his mostly inert console.

Fucker had somehow hit his generator after they got jumped by those random mechs... and just left him here?! Through HEAD BRINGER's thick chassis he could hear the sounds of combat, muffled staccato fire and the telltale 'pff-THWMP' of a piledriver engaging and driving its spike into solid, military grade steel. It galled him to know that Raven didn't need back up at all, that Iguazu had been viewed as an annoyance to be swept aside quickly to focus on the real threat.

How dare he... how dare he...?!

"Rb19 Iguazu."

He froze at the familiar voice, ALLMIND's detachedly polite voice crackly through his fucked console. The emergency power only really focused on powering the important things: life support and comms.

"I see that HEAD BRINGER has suffered from a catastrophic failure. Do you require extraction and repairs?"

Iguazu didn't immediately answer. His chest felt tight and his stomach churned, as he abruptly realised the predicament he was in. Iguazu never told the other Redguns about him taking sly jobs through ALLMIND, because he'd always finished them with only a few dents and scratches on HEAD BRINGER's paintjob, and ALLMIND usually buffed those out. He'd never full on wrecked before. Michigan might get pissed...

...which was whatever! Guy was always riding Iguazu's ass! This would just be one another thing he'd nag him about, and Nile will complain about the fact that this was done off company time so Iguazu would-

Oh.

Oh shit.

He'd have to... pay for repairs out of pocket.

His savings... all that COAM he'd managed to scrape together and save by taking these jobs, that'll be consumed and thensome to fix up HEAD BRINGER. Generators weren't cheap! Not at all! He would've preferred Raven shooting off a leg at this rate! Oh fucking shit cunt asshole fuck-

"Rb19 Iguazu."

"Will you fuck off!?" he half-shrieked. "I'm busy- fucking- argh, I'm so screwed! Why did you give me this job?! Why didn't you tell me the fucking freelancer was here?! I got caught totally off guard because of you!"

"I was unaware that Rb23 Raven was contracted by RaD at this time. His handler had submitted a stay in mission requests for the next two days."

What? Wait, Iguazu didn't give a shit about that.

"Well he's here! Kicking ass and being a fucking cunt as usual!" Iguazu seethed, and flung himself back in his cockpit chair, grunting when it jarred his Cerebral Control Spite. Irritably, he reached up, easing out the cerebral spike with an experienced and gentle care, closing his eyes against the brief moment of vertigo the disconnect brought him.

ALLMIND obliviously kept talking.

"I've initiated emergency extraction protocols. Please hold your position for the next ten minutes. You will be brought to an ALLMIND sponsored foundry for repair and recuperation. Do you wish to send a message to Rb09 Michigan-"

"NO!" Iguazu snapped. "No, don't tell that old man anything. He can't know I was out here!"

"I understand. Then I assume you wish for your bill of repairs to be discretionary?"

Bill of...? "You're gonna bill me?!"

"Yes. If you recall, part of the policy for the Independent Contractors System is that upon mission success, all repair and ammunition costs are absorbed by ALLMIND. Upon failure, the pilot takes full responsibility-"

Iguazu did not recall reading that at all, but... well, he just skimmed all the legal jargon and fine print when ALLMIND had first introduced this system to him, so it was likey he'd missed it. Crap. Well, there was the fish hook he had been marvelling the absence of.

"...how much will it cost," he asked stonily.

"If you don't wish to pay using COAM, an alternative means of payment can be arranged," ALLMIND said, and though she was an AI and thus lacking in emotion or human ambition, there was something... unnervingly sly in her tone. Smug, almost.

That fish hook now had a hundred cruel barbs on it. Iguazu swallowed, viscerally remembering the last time he heard those words - if you can't pay with money, then there's an alternative means of payment... - and how it ended up with him here: augmented against his will and fighting on a backwater planet for a company he despised from the very bottom of his soul.

"Depends on what those 'alternative means' are," Iguazu said warily.

"In pursuit of offering better services to the mercenaries I serve, and gaining better understanding of their wants and needs, it would be beneficial to have several mercenary subjects on hand to gather vital data from."

What? "You want me to be some guinea pig?"

"There will be nothing invasive. Not to the extent of your augmentation surgery. All data shall be harvested via simulations or logs you willingly submit from live combat. You will not be harmed or physically discomforted in any way."

This sounded way too lenient.

"That's it...?" Iguazu probed. "You just want... some fucking data from me? You can get that whenever you want as is! You definitely want something else."

"Of course. The data I automatically obtain is superficial at most. What I require is your biometrics."

"What, like my... fingerprints?"

"The biological performance of your body in combat, both real and simulated, its responses to actions taken by your AC whilst you are under high-levels of stress and synchronisation, its default state post-combat. Gathering this data will allow me to develop AC hardware that encourages perfect synergy between pilot and machine, the likes which Arquebus and Balam have not yet achieved."

Okay... okay, this was... Iguazu could not put his finger on it, but having grown up in the slums of Earth, where he'd met almost every single degenerate under the sun, an instinctive part of him was screaming this is a fetish thing the AI is making you participate in a fetish thing THIS IS TOTALLY A FETISH THING.

"..."

But even if it was a fetish thing, it was still a good deal. Iguazu's used to being horrifically violated, and this was the most gentle way of having it done. He could record this data and send it, and exist in blissful denial over whatever ALLMIND would do with it. She's an AI, she didn't have a physical body to masturbate with. She'd do... whatever it was AI did to get off. Have a power surge? Bluescreen? Whatever. Not his problem. Not thinking about it. Biometric data for possibly fetishtic purposes in exchange for HEAD BRINGER getting repaired and Michigan not knowing about his illegal moonlighting? Brilliant deal if you had no pride, and boy, Iguazu was used to tossing his aside when it was convenient.

"Fine. It's a deal," Iguazu gritted out. "I'll send you all the data you want after you repair HEAD BRINGER."

"Understood. Thank you for your cooperation, Rb19 Iguazu. This will serve to benefit ALLMIND, and in turn, benefit all mercenaries."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..."

-

Actually, accepting that mission hadn't been the biggest mistake of his life.

Agreeing to ALLMIND's deal had been.

[djarins-cyare]

WIP Wednesday!

✨Featuring: a taste of smut and a poll✨

Tagged by @beskarandblasters today (thanks Kel!) and @burntheedges literally like 4 weeks ago but I’ve been working 80-hour weeks and am really behind with interactions (so thanks Kate and sorry this is late!) 💙

They’re slightly different templates, so I’ll use the one with more detail and a poll because that’s always fun…

STEP ONE: post snippets of the fics you’re working on (can be a summary if there’s no snippet) STEP TWO: put them in a poll and let people vote on which one you should work on

There’s some NSFW content, so under the cut if you please…

As usual, I’ve given you far more than is strictly necessary, but you can’t shut me up, so here you go…

1. From To See A Thousand Things (guns n’ angst – the winner of my last WIP poll):

“What was that word you just said? Did you call me something rude?” “Kaan’goran. It means ‘weaponsmith’ in Mando’a. I don’t know your name and that’s what you are.” Oh. He says it matter-of-factly, but you’re strangely disappointed somehow. Maybe it’s time you introduced yourself to the man you’ve been anonymously fucking for over a year. This is a night of firsts, after all. “Well, you can call me—” “Don’t,” he insists, surprising you. Your face instantly falls, wondering why the hell that’s the arbitrary line he’s drawing in the sand tonight. But he sees your dejection and sighs, offering an explanation. “In my culture, names aren’t used flippantly. They’re titles, and they’re used as such: a full name to denote one’s clan when necessary, but otherwise rarely spoken. Those individuals who have a job of high standing are referred to by their professional titles – jobs that provide for the whole tribe rather than just their individual clan. To a Mandalorian, a weaponsmith is a noble profession. You forge the implements we defend ourselves with.” Okay, that’s… weirdly sweet. Oh… no. Oh hell no. Fuck off warm fuzzy feeling that’s rising in your belly. This will not do! You furrow your brow, confused and slightly annoyed about… well, basically everything, from his intentions to your emotions. Time to clarify. “You’re... complimenting me?” “I’m… respecting you,” he counters carefully. You can’t help the small snort of amusement that makes its way unbidden through your nose at that. This is definitely a night of firsts.

2. From an unnamed lengthy oneshot (starts a little angsty but builds to fluff and a helmet reveal):

“Din?” you try. His helmet jerks slightly at his name, but he doesn’t look. You deserve more, so you demand more. “What’s wrong? Talk to me.” He shifts uncomfortably and shakes his helmet a little. Was that a response? A refusal to talk? Try being more direct. “Hey. That’s not fair. You don’t get to touch me like that and then pull away without saying why.” “That’s the problem,” he responds, voice like steel. “I know it’s not fair. I shouldn’t have touched you like that.” There’s something bitter in his tone, and it poisons the air between you. But you still don’t understand, and the ache in your chest festers higher. “I wasn’t complaining,” you try. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted you to do that?” For some reason, your hesitancy about crossing this line with him has vanished. You think he erased it when he groped your ass just now. “Yes, I know,” he snaps loudly, suddenly sounding angrier than you’ve ever heard him. “Do you know why it can’t happen?” You shake your head, too surprised at his sudden fierceness to respond verbally. Actually, you have some idea (a lot of ideas), but you’d rather hear his explanation. But you don’t get an explanation. You get a dismissal. “Then you don’t know me very well at all.” And with those acidic, modulated words, he turns his back on you and marches into the canyon.

3. From Final Sanctuary (interestingly, this was the second-lowest rated in my last WIP poll, so I’m giving you a whole little smutty section to see if that’s still the case):

He takes several bites before he remembers she wants his opinion, and he swallows and resets the helmet, glancing up at her. She’s watching him, chewing slowly with what he can only describe as a smug smile on her lips. “Good, huh?” she prompts, punctuating her question with another bite. He’s about to respond when her bite causes a bit of the white dip to ooze out of the bread and smear across the corner of her mouth. Dank farrik, his brain instantly leaps into motion and flashes a full and detailed sexual fantasy before his eyes in a matter of milliseconds. …his hard cock between her warm lips, pressing deeper into her mouth as she moans and sucks his length… She clearly feels the rogue smear of dip, but with both hands clutching the bread, she utilises her tongue to recapture it, a wanton pink delight darting out of the corner of her mouth and Din swells in his pants. …she licks and flutters around his cockhead, massaging the sensitive spot underneath and undulating it along the bottom as she sinks lower again… But the viscous white liquid has dripped farther than her tongue can reach, leaving a smear a little way down from the corner of her mouth, and he intently focuses on it. …the perfect confluence of pressure and suction brings him right to the edge of ecstasy, and he orgasms hard, filling her mouth with so much cum that it leaks and spills down her chin… Before he’s even aware he’s doing it, Din is reaching for her. He sees his hand extend across the crate between them, but he can’t stop it. She’s hunched low to reach the food, and the crate is small, so he doesn’t have to learn far, and although her eyes widen in surprise, she doesn’t flinch or pull away. His thumb only hesitates for a second before wiping up the dip, but it hovers there for longer afterwards, coated in white and unsure how to proceed. …she swallows his cum, and he wipes up what spilled out, pressing his thumb into her mouth so she doesn’t miss a drop, and her tongue eagerly licks it up… Just as he makes the rational decision to withdraw his hand, she turns her head, aligning her lips with his thumb, and a rush shoots through him… but he’s already in motion, retreating back to his side of the crate. It’s too late. Would she have done it? Licked his thumb? Dank farrik, he’s so hard over the possibility. Thankfully, he’s pretty sure that between his loose pants and the cross-legged position he’s in, nothing’s on display, plus he’s sitting close to the crate anyhow. Neither of them has spoken yet, although he’s not sure if his voice works right now. Still, he has to answer her question about the meal, so he rasps out the only word that comes to mind. “Delicious.”

I have several others, but these are the fullest, although they’re incomplete and unedited.

Feel free to send me an ask or leave a comment if you want to discuss these any further!

A few NP tags: @ceapa-mica @penvisions @papurgaatika @for-a-longlongtime @draculasfavoritewife @whxtedreams @alltheotps

I'll just get comfy and wait for the poll results...

[mangoslam]

'Rule 63' - Hellcheer Fic - Oneshot

Superstar athlete Chris Cunningham is struggling with nightmares and visions and goes to freaky Ellie Munson for relief. Rule 63' - Gender Swap - Hellcheer AU Basically a gender swap version of 'Chrissy Lives' Characters are kind of OC but not really. I've tried to keep them as character-based as possible but there had to be minor tweaks to make it realistic in the 80's. POV switches between characters.

Ellie is 19. Chris is 18. Really enjoyed writing this one. Let me know what you think and if I should do another chapter. Also on Archive. Word count: 9,322 Rated: No ratings, some swearing.

Setting: Hawkins High School

Date: 1986, baby

Introducing: 

Ellie Munson, lead guitarist in amateur rock band Corroded Coffin, repeating her senior year again because she has crap grades and a rebellious streak. Her interests? Dungeons and Dragons (she runs the Hellfire Club as D&M and rules with an iron fist), listening to heavy metal at full volume with the car windows rolled down, and reading (and getting high to) The Hobbit, Dune, and other fantasy books which let her drift away. She was the school pariah because she didn’t play by the same rules - ‘a freak’ - and people just didn’t like her very much. The other students (and most of Hawkins) hissed she was a ‘bad influence’ - a junkie slut, trailer trash, juvenile delinquent - who would no doubt end up just like her shitty mom. Oh they were just waiting for the day she stumbled and proved them right. 

Ellie wasn’t so sure - she was mean and scary, yes, and she played up the freak role at school because it made certain dickheads keep their distance - but she knew she wanted more out of life. This year she was getting her diploma and getting the fuck out of Hawkins and away from these small-minded hicks. They could literally kiss her ass. 

Introducing: 

Chris Cunningam, captain of the basketball team and hot-shot athlete with college scholarships coming out of his ears. His interests? Sports, tutoring (his grades were outstanding), and being a perfect all-round good guy who everybody simply fawned over. Guys were lining up to be his buddy and girls wanted to date him. You’d think he’d be this obnoxious douchebag but Chris stood out from his peers - he was kind, patient, always looking out for the little guy. Everyone knew Chris had the perfect future lined up for the taking (a stable high-earning job within his dad’s law firm, a big house with the white picket fence, a beautiful wife and children). 

Chris wasn’t so sure - people didn’t want to see the real him - the guy who hated parties and crowds, who couldn’t do anything without his dad breathing down his fucking neck, who was so petrified of letting people down and not being perfect that it gave him panic attacks. Nobody asked him what he wanted to do after school and sometimes (just sometimes) he would let himself imagine a future away from Hawkins and all the stress. 

Enter stage left: 

Ellie was known to be the school dealer. She even had a system; people would drop a note in her locker with a time and place and she would meet them, easy peasy. Her rules? Cash only, not on a night when she had Hellfire, and absolutely no questions. She didn’t give a shit about why they wanted the weed or who they wanted to impress, she just wanted to get in and out with zero complications. Selling weed was not something she wanted to do forever but it meant she could save up for if - no, when - she graduated. 

She couldn’t exactly get a normal job packing groceries because the whole town thought she was a good-for-nothing junkie who would steal from the tills rather than do an honest day’s labour, and she was too young to work in the factory with her aunt. 

Some of the money went towards helping her aunt with the bills. Wendy took her in when she was still a kid and her parents split in the middle of the night without even a goodbye or see you later. Wendy was a confirmed spinster and worked a lot so Ellie often had the trailer to herself, but they made it work. She was nice, sturdy, calm; a good balance to Ellie’s puzzling inner chaos. 

(she tried explaining to Mr Kelley about her crazy brain and how sometimes it wouldn’t let her focus but he just told her to lay off the pot, which to be fair wasn’t terrible advice overall). 

So when Ellie arrived at school (late as usual) and found a neatly folded note in her locker she didn’t really give it much thought until she saw the initials at the bottom - C.C.

No fucking way…

But it had to be him because who else would write please and thank you in a drug note then the resident goody-two-shoes Chris Cunningham? 

She only had one class with Chris - English (her worst and seemingly his best) - and he was different from the other douchebag jocks. He never once picked on her or called her a freak and even told the cheerleader Patty to lay off when she tried stealing her notes. He’d smiled and given her a little nod as to say ‘it’s cool’ and for a second he made her believe it. That was the thing about Chris: he was nice, he was kind, and he never told a lie. 

(it was no wonder she struggled in that class, but she would rather die than tell judgy ol’ Mr O'Donnell about it).

Chris had a killer smile too - though his front tooth was slightly crooked (which somehow made it even better?) - and the bluest eyes she ever saw. He was also ripped. He must work out a lot because his arms looked like they could easily toss you over his strong shoulder or rip a phonebook in half. Not that she’d noticed, obviously, but the scribbles in the bathroom stalls went on and on about his muscles, his shoe size, his (perfect) butt. To her absolutely shame (and she would never ever admit it even under torture) she once imagined in class how nice it might be to be held by those arms. Ugh. 

Sure she was an outcast and liked traditionally unfeminine pursuits, but she was still a girl. She had hormones and feelings and all the crazy stuff that made teenage years super fun. 

(and yeah Chris had once cheered for her during a stupid talent contest in middle school but that was years ago and he was only being nice). 

It would never happen, this wasn’t The Breakfast Club (Wendy loved these kinds of films - she would drag Ellie to the video rental place every weekend for a new one. Ellie liked Robin who worked there (he was pretty outlandish too) but former ‘It Girl’ Stacey was intimidating as fuck. She had no idea how the two were friends). 

Chris was a solid 9 whereas she was a 3 on a good day if she stopped doing weird shit to her hair. He might be Emilio Estevez but she was no Ally Sheedy. 

Even if she wanted to suddenly change her clothes and slap on some make up (seriously, what was that ending?), those big strong arms were busy hugging his actual girlfriend Jackie Carver (and carrying her books, opening doors for her, probably opening goddamn jars too). Jackie Carver was head cheerleader and the darling of the school. She was the perfect match for Chris in every conceivable way; church going, wholesome, sickeningly rich. Apart from the occasional teasing, the jocks tended to leave Ellie alone for the most part but the cheerleaders were another matter entirely. They loathed her - and to be fair, she hated them right back. Jackie was the ringleader and Ellie simply loved getting a rise out of her.

(this wasn’t hard to do; she only had to mention how she was joining a Satan-worshipping cult and little Miss Carver would hiss like an alley cat). 

So yeah, in conclusion Chris was a good guy and the last person she would ever expect to ask for drugs. It almost made her want to break rule number three. 

His note asked to meet at the abandoned picnic bench during lunch period which meant she had to wolf down her sandwich and get a move on. She told her little sheepies with a wink she had private business to attend to and left before they could give her any sass (Dusty was seriously showing too much attitude for her own good). Her bandmates only nodded, well used to her side-hustle. 

As she walked through the trees she had a fleeting thought that this could be a prank or a set up. Were the cheerleaders waiting to jump her and steal her stash or tip another slushie down the front of her shirt? (that was a seriously shit day). Would Queen Bee Jackie be waiting instead of her prized King? 

Ellie was too scrawny to be a fighter, but her dad had done at least one useful thing in teaching her how to throw a punch (when he still gave a shit) and she was scrappy. She could also read people and situations well. She kinda’ had to. As a girl dealer in 80’s Indiana it was crucial she could make speedy decisions on whether best to fight or fly. 

She decided to run at the first sight of a green and orange pom pom. 

And maybe a tiny part of her was quite interested to meet Cunningham alone in the woods. 

**

Chris was going insane…or maybe not insane exactly, but he was definitely on the edge of some kind of nervous breakdown. His head was pounding and he was so damn tired from all the restless nights. He hadn’t felt this bad since freshman year when he was trying to beef up enough to make the team (months of eating nothing but carbs and protein shakes/constant calorie counting/early morning runs that made him want to puke his guts out). 

He needed some kind of relief. 

Painkillers did nothing and he wouldn’t go near his mom’s valium in case she noticed (though the odds of that were…yeah). He saw Mr Kelley at their weekly therapy sessions but it would sound so dumb if he started bringing up the strange ticking noises and dreams that seemed more like hallucinations. It was too dangerous anyway; he'd probably tell his coach who would then blab to his parents. Then he’d really get it in the neck. His parents hated anything out of the ordinary. He could already hear his dad calling him a punk, a loser, and an embarrassment. 

“Chrissss,” he’d say, dragging it out like he always did when he was mad. “I’ve worked hard to give you and your sister everything. Now you want to wreck it all by crying about feelings like some girl? Get a grip, son. A real man knows who he is and what he wants out of life. Don’t let me down.”

In the end it was a teammate who suggested Ellie Munson. He told him about the note system too. He warned Chris that Ellie was creepy and to be careful, even if she did sell decent pot. She wasn’t the kind of girl you wanted to know.

He was anxious as hell as he walked to the meeting spot, and more so when he got there and saw…no one. 

Damn. Had she not seen the note? Or maybe she just didn’t want to sell to him? He didn’t really know Ellie personally but being a high-school athlete came hand in hand with a certain…reputation. Perhaps she thought he was just another cliche dumb jock looking to make trouble?

(he knew the guys gave her a hard time and tried to intervene when he saw it. He hated bullies - they reminded him of his crappy dad - but yeah, he could probably do more if he was honest with himself. It was hard when Ellie basically gave the finger to anyone who even approached her though). 

With a sigh, he decided to head back. This was all probably a bad idea anyway; he’d never even touched a joint before and if his parents or coach or Jackie found out they’d seriously kill him. His perfectly curated image would be in shatters. 

And Jackie could be really cold when she wanted to be. It always made him feel like he was walking on eggshells. 

But then Chris heard that creepy ticking noise again and he flinched back. 

Then a snap.

He whirled around and came face to face with Ellie Munson, who held her hands up. “Woah…hey…sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you. You okay?”

Chris nodded but he kept back. The ticking had stopped but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t start back up again. God, he really was going insane. He’d end up like Jack Nicholson in that creepy film with the white straight jackets at this rate. 

Ellie sat down at the table and placed a black lunchbox next to her. “There's, uh... There's nothing to worry about. Okay? No one ever comes out here. We're safe. I promise.”

Chris looked at her properly. Ellie Munson was known about school to be wild and weird and most people avoided her. She looked weird in her black ripped jeans, leather jacket, and faded denim vest covered with band patches and pins. Even her leather boots were scuffed and way too big to belong to her. Her hair was wild too; an explosion of messy brown curls that fell to her waist with a knotted bandana (failing) to keep it away from her face. She didn’t wear makeup like Jackie but he noticed three heavy silver rings on her fingers (again, way too big for her). Her ears were heavily pierced and…yeah…one even had a safety pin through it. 

He knew she liked to kick up a fuss in the cafeteria and make loud bizarre speeches about inequality and feminist rights, she never ever attended class (when she did she preferred to sleep in the back row), and could swear like a biker. She also protected a flock of freshmen like a mother hen. So yeah weird but she wore it well. She wore it in a way that proclaimed proudly she didn’t give a shit what other people thought about her, which was…actually pretty cool. 

Ellie’s boldness and shere cheek should by all rights freak him out, but it didn’t. Instead he felt a strange twist of jealousy in his chest; he’d love to borrow that nerve and tell the people around him to leave him the hell alone. 

So when she told him they were safe, he found himself believing her (even though she was like half his height and he definitely bench pressed heavier weights than her). Strange.   

“So, how does this work exactly?” he asked, sitting down too. 

“Oh, just like any other old sale, except, uh, cash only, and, uh, for obvious reasons, no receipts. I'll do you a half ounce for, uh... 20. What do you say? Plenty of bang for your buck. Should last a while.”

Another snap. He shuddered and rubbed his temples. 

“Hey, uh, we don't need to do this. Just give me the word and I'll walk away. Okay?”

She was looking at him with something like real concern flashing in her brown eyes. He felt oddly touched. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone looked at him like that.  

“It's not that. I don't want you to go. It's just…” he took a deep breath to steady himself. “Do you ever feel like you're losing your mind?” 

He half expected her to leg it but to his surprise Ellie just grinned. Up close, he noticed a dimple in her left cheek which was pretty cute. 

“Um, you know, just... on a daily basis. I feel like I'm losing my mind right now doing a drսg deal with Chris Cunningham, the King of Hawkins High.” 

Chris could feel his cheeks burning - he hated being called that. That was all Jackie’s doing. She had big plans that they were going to be crowned at prom and then probably marry right out of school and…ugh. He was about to say so when Ellie went on…

“You know, this isn't the first time that we've, um... hung out.”

“I'm sorry. I…”

“That's okay.”

Before he could say another word, Ellie launched herself back off the table and he sprang to his feet to…help? Catch her? Check she was ok? But Ellie was grinning again and he found it so infectious that he smiled right back. 

“I wouldn't remember me either, Chris. Honestly, do I have stuff in my hair?” she laughed. There were brown and gold leaves in her hair but instead of fixing it (like Jackie might’ve) she shook it out and seemed totally unfazed. “You don't remember me?”

“I’m sorry!” Chris laughed. 

“Middle school, talent show? You were doing the basketball thing. You know, the... dribbling… thing you do. It was pretty cool, actually. And I... I was with my band.” 

Then it hit him. “Corroded Coffin! Yes, of course. With a name like that, how could I forget?”

“I dunno. You're a freak.”

Ellie was beaming and Chris sat back down on the edge of the table to watch her. If anyone else called him a freak he might’ve been offended but Ellie said it like it was a badge of honour. Her dimple was back. 

A vague memory of a tiny girl with patched dungarees holding a guitar suddenly came back to him. She’d been waiting to go out on stage with her friends, terrified and clearly falling to bits with nerves. Chris had smiled and wished her luck, and afterwards whooped and clapped so hard he thought his hands might fall off. His dad had ripped him to shreds for his own performance - but her little crooked smile and twinkling eyes stayed with him. “No, you just... You looked so... Different?” 

“Yeah. Well, uh, my hair was shorter and I had braces, and I didn't have these sweet old tatties yet.”

She tugged at the neck of her shirt (with Hellfire written across the front) and he spotted a line of black ink just underneath her collarbone. He knew some girls got tattoos - not any of the girls he knew, of course - and Ellie implied she had more than one. He felt himself blush again when he realised he wanted to see more. Which would obviously be really inappropriate and creepy. 

He was very aware of the fact they were all alone and he was significantly bigger than her, even if Ellie didn’t seem to notice. He dragged his gaze back to the safety of her face. 

Thankfully his voice didn’t betray any of what he was feeling. “You played guitar, right?”

“Uh-huh. Still do. Still do. You should come see us. Uh, we play at The Hideout on Tuesdays. It's pretty cool. We... We actually get a crowd of about five drunks. It's not exactly the Garden, but you gotta start somewhere, right?”

He was surprised she was allowed to go to The Hideout at all with drunk guys - let alone to play in a band. Maybe her boyfriend went along to keep her safe? Chris didn’t even know her that well and he wanted to. “You know, you're not what I thought you'd be like.” 

“Mean and scary?” 

That’s what Jackie or his friends would say. “Yeah.” 

“Yeah, well, I actually kinda thought you'd be kinda mean and scary too.” 

He actually snorted at that. “Me?”

Ellie laughed and when she laughed she did it properly - lips wide, eyes bright, her head tossed back. It was so incredibly animated and warm and real that it made Chris want to huddle closer to her flame. She perched on the seat beside him and opened up the lunchbox. 

“Terrifying. Uh, so, in other good news, flattery works with me, so... Twenty-five percent discount for the half. Fifteen bucks. You're robbing me blind here, you know.”

Oh right. Drugs. He’d almost forgotten. He’d enjoyed speaking to her so much (and watching her - she was more interesting to look at than anyone else he knew) that for a brief wonderful moment the ticking and spiders and nightmares vanished. 

But they came back back now and he felt himself physically recoil. 

“Do you have anything maybe stronger?”

He didn’t think anything shocked Ellie Munson, but that sure did. 

**

Right. So perfect wholesome Chris Cunningham was sitting in her crappy van and they were driving back to her trailer. 

He said he wanted something harder than weed and Ellie said yes but obviously didn’t keep that kind of thing at school. She offered to meet him the following day (same time, same place, even though it was a Saturday) but Chris had looked so serious when he asked if he could please possibly get it tonight after the game and her club meeting. She’d been too taken back by the intensity in his eyes to say anything other than yes, honestly. So they met later that evening by her van and he actually opened the door for her. Ellie couldn’t remember anyone ever doing that kind of thing for her before. 

(she’d had a short-lived daliance with a boy from her art class and he’d brought her roses and candy, but the next day he was sucking face with a girl from their photography class who put out, so it wasn’t really what you’d call meaningful).

She thanked him and hopped up into the driver’s seat (damn it, she was too short for anything elegant) and Chris slid in beside her. He was polite enough not to mention the many takeout coffee cups, the spare and broken tapes cluttering the floor, or the very used mattress in the back (used for when she needed to transport band equipment). He said his own car was in the shop right now and he’d caught a lift this morning. 

“Seriously, I’m not trying to make a move or anything…I just need something to help, you know?”

It hadn’t even crossed her simple puny mind that Chris might have any ulterior motive to coming back to her trailer. Maybe some guys might but that didn’t seem to be his style. 

“Am I your piece of rough, Cunningham? Not worried one of your team mates might see you slumming it with me?” Ellie said, only part joking. 

Chris blushed and rolled his eyes. “You make me sound like a total prude. Aren’t you worried about your badass image being tanked by me?” 

She liked it when he blushed. Luckily with his pale skin and colouring, he had no chance at masking it. 

“Glad you brought it up actually, can you duck down ‘til we get out the gates? One look at that letterman jacket and my scary reputation is kaput,” she smirked. She turned on the radio and heavy metal music blasted out from the speakers. She thought he might ask to turn it down and was pleasantly surprised when he said he didn’t mind it. “Sorry, I don’t have any Cyndi Lauper or Billy Joel…”

“Get lost,” he laughed. “Do not start quoting Uptown Girl (Boy) at me, Munson.” 

It was almost too easy to make Chris laugh. She’d enjoyed messing with him back in the woods and wondered what other buttons she could press. What got under his skin? 

There must be something, obviously, if he was asking her for ketamine. 

You’ve gotta’ cool it, she told herself. Yeah he’s super cute and remembered the band but you weren’t really joking…he would absolutely be slumming it with you. He’s not even the same species AND he has a girlfriend who looks like she could be a runner up for Miss America. 

Inwardly sighing at her lot in life, she bravely asked, “So how was the game? Did you - uh - throw some balls into laundry baskets?”

Chris looked sideways at her, obviously surprised that she cared so little for something the entire school (including the faculty) seemed crazy about, but then started chuckling again. “Yeah, we…we won actually. It was a championship game.”

“Oh…good. Glad it went well for you.” Ellie wound down the window and lit a cigarette as they neared a stop sign. She offered him one and he took it after only a split-second hesitation. 

“Thanks. We practised really hard and I’m proud of how well we all came together. It’s one of the things I like most about playing sports, you know? The team work,” he added. “Ever been to a rally?”

She’d never thought about sports like that before, it always just seemed like one big popularity contest. His enthusiasm kind of humbled her a bit. “Uh - no, not high on my ‘to do’ list, I’m afraid. I’d be too worried about one of the cheerleaders drop-kicking me honestly.” 

“Oh really? Are they…what? They mean to you?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Seriously, Cunningham?”

He didn’t look like he was bullshitting her. He looked genuinely confused…“Sorry, I don’t really know…”

She thought about all the times the cheerleaders stole her clothes (and dumped them in the toilets) after gym class, how they tried to trip her up in the halls, how they filled her locker with shaving foam so all her notes were useless, how they stuck gum in her hair and Wendy had no choice but to cut it out leaving her with a tuft that stuck out for ages. 

Yeah, she could see how Miss Carver would want to keep that all hush hush from her lovely boyfriend. 

“Yeah, I mean it’s not your problem so you don’t need to apologise, but yeah they make my life pretty miserable on a daily basis. They pick on the freshmen too and that really gets under my skin,” she added. “Your buddies on the team can be real jerks too. It’s why I stopped dealing at those jock parties. Those meatheads can call you a freak and ignore you at school, but after a couple of beers they get pretty shitty if you catch my drift.” 

“They’ve messed with you?”

“Tried to. I just avoid it all now.”

Chris seemed honestly shocked at that and his hand twitched like he wanted to…what? Comfort her? She felt a bit bad - he obviously had no idea about what kind of people he chose to hang around. “That’s seriously not on. Not to you or the kids,” he muttered. “Does…Jackie…?”

Ellie actually snorted. “No way, Chris. She’s your girlfriend and there’s no way I’m airing out her dirty laundry. These lips will remain sealed.” 

“But…I could try talking to her?” 

Maybe Chris speaking to Jackie on her behalf might help for a week or two (Jackie would be sure to cry a little and pout and say no honey, she’s really stupid, she must be mistaken) but then Jackie would be livid. She’d think she was deliberately trying to split them up or something. 

The little chaos demon in her brain thought fuck it, ask him anyway. 

“Nah, it would only make it worse. Just…drop it, okay? Thanks but I can look after myself for a few more months. After that? I’m getting out of this craphole and I’ll never see those shitheads again.” 

She could tell he didn’t want to drop it but also didn’t want to push her either. She appreciated that - she hated it when people tried shoving in and telling her what to do. Was it the same for Chris? 

So instead Chris sighed and ran a hand through his short hair as he finished up his cigarette. She glanced at his blond hair - it had hints of red if you looked closely, so it was more of a strawberry blonde. It was buzzed short at the back and sides, but the longer hair on top looked thick and soft. He was still wearing his game clothes and they did little to hide the thick muscular expanse of his chest and arms. As Dio played on the radio, she wondered what Chris might look like in rockstar jeans and a leather jacket like the guys at The Hideout wore. 

Probably just as great as he did in his usual preppy acid-wash jeans and sneakers. 

She tried to imagine herself in the kind of clothes Jackie typically wore (very Molly Ringwald) with her hair brushed and professionally styled, bright eyeshadow smudged around her eyes, eating fucking sushi and cheerleading. Shit, it would be like watching a toad kiss a prince but without the Disney ending. It just wasn’t her. 

Ellie kept her eyes forward on the road like a very very good driver. 

Chris nobley changed the subject. “So what’s this Hellfire about? It’s not actually a satanic cult, right?”

Ellie huffed out a laugh. “I wish. It’s just a club where we play Dungeons and Dragons. It’s like a board game but we use our imaginations. The others built their own characters but I’m Dungeon Master - D&M - so I kind of plan it all out. There’s about seven of us right now, and we just finished a pretty sick campaign called the Curse of Vecna…” she trailed off. “Whoops, sorry. I can kind of get carried away with this stuff.”

“No way, it sounds interesting!” She glanced at him to make sure (again) he wasn’t making fun of her, but yeah, he did look interested. “I’ve heard about it - it’s got elves and goblins and stuff, right? Like Tolkien?”

“Holy crap. You’ve read Tolkien? Don’t tease me now - the Chris Cunningham has a secret nerdy side?”

Chris grinned. “My uncle lent me the books when I was still a kid. Totally loved them. I always wanted to be like Aragorn with a sword and armour…well, right up until my dad saw and tossed them out in the trash. Didn’t line up with his grand plan for me.” 

“Plan?”

“Yeah…my parents are pretty strict. They - uh - have my whole life planned out for me, you know?”

Ellie didn’t know. Her parents didn’t even have plans for their own lives, let alone a kid they never wanted. She knew she wanted to leave Hawkins but after that? Life was fuzzy. 

“Well...if you ever want to sit in on a game and watch, I can probably convince the girls you aren’t a spy. You’d be more than welcome. It’s usually on the night you have practice though.” 

“Well… maybe one day I can flake? I’d like to watch you. Play, I mean. I’d like to watch you play,” he coughed. “It’s really cool how you look after those freshmen - they seem to really look up to you - makes me think you might be a softie underneath, Ellie.” 

Ellie fucking cackled. “No no no. That’s too much now. First you want to buy drugs, then you offer to ditch sports to watch my nerdy game, and now telling me I’m a softie when you’re basically a walking teddy bear? Are you even a jock? I thought all you meatheads lived and breathed school spirit, right? My dumb perception of high school is being massacred.”

But actually there did seem to be a hell of a lot more to Chris then she could’ve ever guessed. Hidden layers, and all that. 

“Maybe I’m more than a cliche. Right, Munson?” 

And he gave her such a deliberate look that she sniggered and shook her head. Point very well made. She noticed a faint scattering of freckles on his nose and cheeks that really suited him. 

“Well… you got me there.”

She turned off the main road towards Forest Hills and now Metallica blasted out of the speakers. They were quiet for a little bit but it wasn’t awkward. 

“Seriously, thank you for this,” Chris suddenly said. “I feel…more normal…more awake…than I have for weeks.” 

Ellie smiled, and this time it was friendly and yeah soft. Damn it. 

“This is such a weird fucking day.”

**

Ellie pulled up outside her trailer and Chris slid out somewhat nervously. He’d never been to Forest Hills trailer park before and wasn’t sure what to expect. His parents and Jackie made it out to be some cesspit of evil - “a place filled with drunks, degenerates, single parents” - but all he saw was the soft glow of lights as families ate their dinners and settled down for the evening. Little Ellie Munson switched off the ignition, shouldered her backpack (heavy with D&D journals), and waved for him to follow as she found her door key. She told him this was her castle and he found himself smiling, once again at ease. 

(he almost offered to carry her bag but her lunchtime rants indicated she might see this as patronising. He’d felt like a total idiot earlier when he held the door open and she’d carefully arched an eyebrow.)

Jackie always expected these things of him and got royally pissed if he forgot. It would be nice to offer for once without it being demanded. 

Ellie told him her aunt Wendy was working a night shift so they’d have some privacy. 

He blushed, eyeing the neighbouring trailer quickly to see if anyone was spying through the curtains (his mom would be). “What about your folks?” he found himself asking, following her inside. 

“Oh they split ages ago. Pops found himself a new shiny family, and I think mom’s still in jail? She could be dead in a ditch somewhere, for all I know. They don’t exactly keep in touch,” she said, shrugging. “Want something to drink? Beer, coffee, water?”

She spoke like none of it mattered but her shrug was a little too casual. 

“Uh…water would be great.” 

Inside the trailer wasn’t what he’d expected at all. It was small, sure, but clean and neat. It was also really homely looking. Plenty of bright pictures on the walls, dollar store knick knacks decorating the sides, squashy cushions on the couch. Her aunt must really like teapots because there was a whole wall dedicated to her collection. He compared it to his own sterile home which looked more like a showroom. 

Ellie dropped her bag on the couch and toed off her big boots in the middle of the room. Chris did the same only he lined his sneakers up neatly by the door (a habit). She passed him a bottle of water from the fridge. 

“You never worry about being home alone so much? Is it…safe?” 

“Yeah, it’s alright here and I can always run over to Mr Mayfield’s if there’s an emergency. He’s over in the trailer opposite,” she added, fiddling with the radio so music started playing. “Besides, when I’m on my lonesome I can play whatever music I want. Helps me relax, you know? And concentrate.” 

“Seriously? That blows my brain. I need, like, total silence to read or study. I’d love some time on my own but my schedule’s real tight. There’s always something to do, or someone wanting something.” He caught her looking at him. “Yeah I know, poor little rich boy. I sound like an asshole.” 

“Everyone’s got issues,” she shrugged. She gestured for him to take a seat and tucked some of her wild hair back behind her ear. He wondered if it felt as springy as it looked. “Make yourself at home, okay? I’ll go get the Special K.” 

She went back to what was presumably her bedroom and Chris took a sip of the water. The music coming out of the radio wasn’t Ellie’s usual madness, maybe it was a station her aunt liked? 

Tick. 

Christ, really? His head had been blissfully quiet ever since meeting with Ellie. Her noise and bustle, her liveliness, had been like a balm to his nerves. 

He found himself bouncing his leg. He tried to take a deep breath. 

Tick. 

“How long will it take to work?” he called, trying to distract himself. 

“Depends on if you…snort it or not. If you snort it…then yeah, it’ll work pretty quick,” she said when she came back. She was biting her bottom lip and holding a bag of something that looked like powder. “Look, I’m going to break one of my infamous rules right now, but I have to ask…have you ever done anything like this before? Kind of worried you’re going to spiral and get into some serious trouble. You can do it here if you want? Then at least I’ll be around to keep an eye out. My aunt won’t be back until tomorrow morning.” 

Again it kind of sounded like Ellie actually cared (or at least she didn’t want him to die in a K-Hole). Her offer relieved some of the tension in his shoulders and he nodded gratefully. 

“She won’t mind you having a boy here?”

Ellie actually laughed out loud at that and even snorted. His mouth twitched into a grin. She joined him on the couch - though left a deliberate space in between. 

She’d shrugged off her jacket by now and wore only the black and white Hellfire shirt and jeans. He could see another tattoo winding along her elbow that looked like bats. He wondered if she did them herself or went to the one parlour in town (run by an ex-biker who looked gruff and shady). Didn’t her aunt mind? 

But then Ellie was nineteen, a year older than him. She was legally allowed to lift her shirt and have whoever she wanted ink her skin. 

“She’d never believe me,” Ellie chuckled, dragging his thoughts back into the room. “I don’t have guys ‘round here ever.” 

“No way…really?” Chris raised his eyebrows. “No boyfriend or anything?” 

He pictured some tall shaggy haired guy with biker boots and tattoos. He’d have to be in a band (maybe they practised together?) and wear the same style of silver jewellery she did (now he thought about it - those big rings probably were his). He’d smoke pot and read Dune and tell people loudly to fuck off if they bothered him. A guy who could go to The Hideout every week and watch her play, and cheer and hangbang like her own weird cheerleader. The kind of guy, in short, that Chris definitely was not. 

He suddenly thought about himself standing beside Ellie with his arm tight around her shoulders. She was so small that he could easily tuck her against his side, and then he would run his fingers through that wild mane of hair. Jackie rarely smiled when they were together (or at all unless there was an audience) but he could easily imagine kissing Ellie’s grin. 

Not that she would ever let him. She seemed to like him okay, but he would never be the guy in biker boots. She probably had posters pinned up in her bedroom of rockstars and ‘bad boy’ movie stars. Girls like her went for the Judd Nelson’s - not the Emilio Estevez’. 

“Boyfriend? Me? Yeah right, Cunningham. I’m the last girl at school any guy would willingly hang out with, except maybe as a bet.” 

“That’s crazy.” The words left his mouth before he realised it and he blushed, but didn’t want to take them back either. “I mean…yeah, you’re a little different, but you’re cute as hell. Your hair is incredible and that smile? Hell, it’s beautiful.” 

Her eyes widened and he noticed how warm and brown they were. She was blushing too and it somehow suited her. He felt a little twitch of - what, pride? - that he could make Ellie react like that. 

(this was the girl who flipped off (judgy) Mr O'Donnell when he tried making her read her essay out loud, tied her own bra to the flagpole during morning assembly, who got cool tattoos from scary bikers, and stood on lunchroom tables to declare loudly liberal feminism was the only way to go and Reagan could suck it.) 

“You’re crazy. I’m the freak, remember? I know people don’t like me, they don’t ever pick me, but it’s okay. I’m used to it.” 

She was so brutally honest that it nearly knocked the air from his lungs, but then honesty seemed to be what you got with Ellie Munson. She might keep some things close to her chest, but there was no bullshit, no lying, no flattery. It was so fucking refreshing. 

“I don’t think you’re a freak, Ellie, but even if you were…that wouldn’t be so bad, right? You make it look good.”

She tucked a little smile into her shoulder. “Thanks, Cunningham…you’re one of the nice ones.”

“It’s Chris, and you’re welcome.”

Another song came on the radio - some kind of old country song that reinforced this was definitely something her aunt listened to. It reminded him of the stuff his grandad used to put on.

“And you’re in a band, right? That’s awesome.”

“Don’t tell me you're a secret fan of Joan Jett,” she laughed, somewhat shakily. “Jess from the band keeps suggesting we buzz our hair.” 

“Debbie Harry actually. Had a poster up on my wall before my mom ripped it down and called me a pervert.” 

“That is perverted behaviour,” Ellie joked. “Glad she did. Rock music is a gateway to drugs and sex and all kinds of debauchery. Look what happened to me. Can’t have you succumbing to the dark side now.” 

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s pretty scary. I take back all my earlier words. You keep all that Sith crap away from me. I’m all Jedi.”

He saw her silently mouth the word ‘Jedi’. 

“...after Aragorn I kind of loved playing as Luke Skywalker in the backyard with a rolled up newspaper as my lightsaber,” he winced. “Please keep that tidbit extremely super secret, Munson, and yes, I was a kid.” 

He never spoke to Jackie like this, but with Ellie it was too effortlessly easy to slip into this playful persona. She was so honest that it kind of dragged it out of him too. 

“God, think I’m in love,” Ellie said after a few seconds and threw her head back against the couch cushion. She placed a hand above her heart dramatically. “My whole life has led to this pivotal moment.”

Tick. 

Chris couldn’t help but flinch again when he heard the ticking noise and this time Ellie stared at him, sitting up. 

“Okay…so I’m definitely breaking rule three again…what’s going on with you, Chris? Why do you need drugs this bad? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“Honestly?” Ellie nodded. “I think I’m going crazy. Been having these nightmares and seeing stuff for weeks now and I’m losing it. It started as just weird noises and ticking and nightmares, then I saw spiders crawling over Mr Kelley’s face in his office. I freaked out, Ellie. I ran away because I thought I’d be safer with people around, you know? But then that happened…and I still keep seeing them. Doesn’t matter if I’m alone or in the middle of class or sitting right here with you. I keep hearing the ticking noise - it’s like it's chasing me.” 

Chris sat forwards and ran his hands through his hair, willing himself to get a grip. 

“And the nightmares?” Ellie asked quietly. “What happens in those?” 

“It’s usually my parents. Mom and dad. Mom will be strung out on Valium in bed with her mouth stitched up, or laying in a puddle of her own sick by the sink. Sometimes it’s my little sister lying there instead. It happens every time and I can’t do anything to help her. My dad…he fucking stalks me like a ghoul. He used to treat me bad, Ellie, punishing me with food when he thought I was looking too thin or too fat. He used to smack me about until I got taller than him, so then he started picking on me…which goddamn hurt more. My dad - the ghoul in the nightmares - is always telling me I’m useless, I’m an embarrassment, saying I’m letting everyone down. It’s like…all the stuff I’m already feeling, you know? But having it thrown in my face every night…it’s exhausting.” 

His words came out in a rush. Ellie had drawn closer and placed a small tentative hand on his knee. Instead of feeling embarrassed by the action - or pitied - it made him feel safe and seen. 

“How can you possibly let anyone down? You’re, like, the most perfect guy ever,” she murmured. “Can’t you talk to anyone about this? You know, Jackie or a friend?” 

“They aren’t interested in crazy, Ellie. If something doesn’t fit right in their perfect little world then they don’t wanna know. Trust me. Jackie doesn’t do…feelings...unless they’re her own. I can’t talk to her about any of this real stuff. And my friends? They’d just tell me to man up, buy some weed, and get over it before the next big game.” 

Ellie looked like she wanted to say some very choice words but was trying hard to put a leash on it. 

“What about a teacher or your coach? Mr Kelley? I know I’m the last person to willingly talk to authority figures and as a rule they all suck, but this sounds serious, it’s really hurting you. And your parents…they…well sorry, but they sound like total assholes. Especially your dad.”

Chris found himself laughing at that. His dad was one of those untouchable pricks who used money and bullying to gain respect and unfortunately it worked every time. No one ever challenged him or called him an asshole like that. “He is an asshole.” God, even saying it was awesome, even if a little scary. 

“You could…” Ellie was biting her lip again. “I don’t know…leave? You’re eighteen, right? Do you have any family you could stay with?”

“If I left I’d be saying goodbye to scholarships, college, there’s no way I’d graduate. My father would do his best to wreck my whole life if I don’t fall in line,” he responded bitterly. “And besides…I can’t leave my sister alone with them. As long as he’s using me as his punching bag, he can’t turn his attention to her. Can you imagine the kind of crap they’d say to her?”

Chris sighed. He placed his hand on top of Ellie’s on his knee and the coolness of her fingers (and rings) helped pull him back down to the world. 

“I’m sorry to just lay this on you, Ellie. Seriously. You’ve been amazing helping me out tonight, and I’m just messing everything up like usual. You don’t need to hear about all this crazy shit and my nightmares. You’re a good listener, you know that?”

“It’s been said,” she smiled weakly. 

“Do you think I'm losing it?”

Anyone else might’ve said, yeah you sound crazy Chris, but Ellie simply shrugged. She squeezed his hand. “I don’t think you’re crazy. I think you’re going through it right now and bottling it up, but you aren’t insane. You’ve got a right to feel your feelings. And I…I don’t mind listening. If it helps. You’ve made my night a little less lonely.” 

Chris looked over at her and felt like he could drown in the warmth and kindness in her eyes. It wasn’t something he ever expected to find there, but he found himself drinking it in. Ellie too seemed to be searching for something in his expression, her eyes flickering over his eyes, his nose, his mouth. 

It would be all too easy to tug her hand and close the distance. To nestle his face in the crook of her neck and inhale the strawberry shampoo she used. 

**

But Ellie suddenly stood up and she clapped her hands. “Okay, you know what? No Ket. That’s now removed from the table. I’m going to roll us a joint using the good stuff I save for myself  - and we’re going to get high and talk about it all, okay? Really lay it on me, Chriss, no bullshit or pretending. Then I’ll make some grilled cheese sandwiches and we’ll feast and come up with a plan of defence, right?” 

Chris looked surprised but as she spoke a grin settled back across his lips. He really did have one killer smile. 

“You’re on, weird girl.” 

Before she went back to her room for the weed, she found herself hesitating for a moment. She tapped her fingers against the doorway. “Sorry for calling you a meathead earlier and being a dick about the game. You said about it meaning more to you than just scoring goals - and how you enjoy the feeling of working together to achieve something. Way you describe it, it kind of reminded me of Hellfire a little bit and why I like it so much. Guess we both like being part of something…” 

See? Genuine nice comment. Chris seemed to think so because he flushed bright pink. Obviously her sneaky brain had to ruin it by adding, “...we’re big damn losers, am I right?”

She hurried back to her bedroom and stashed the ket securely beneath her bed. Instead she scooped out a tin from the desk drawer where she kept the high quality stuff she bought directly from Reefer Rita. There’d be enough here for maybe three joints and she was betting Chris would only need one to feel buzzed (even though he was big, it was obviously still his first time - she’d have to walk him through it so he didn’t hack his lungs out). 

She glanced at her mirror on the way out and adjusted her shirt. She thought about dragging a brush through her hair but weirdly Chris actually seemed to like it wild? 

She had to pinch her arm. The Chris Cunningham was in her lounge and they were going to get high together. Chris Cunningham (who it turns out is a secret nerd and thinks she’s cute) actually/incredibly/unbelievably seemed to like her enough to confess about his messed up family and nightmares. 

(Nobody had ever called her beautiful before. Not even her dad or mom or aunt). 

She should probably go and buy a lottery ticket, all things considered. 

She steadied herself before she went back through. She felt like a Mage on a quest to solve the riddle of the Cunningham Curse. Sure, she didn’t know how to solve spooky haunting nightmares and banish abusive parents (she assumed kidnapping was out of the question) but she could listen and offer what little support she could muster. 

And Chris was dealing with this every single day because of bullshit toxic masculinity and societal pressure which forced the poor guy to feel he had to shoulder it alone. 

Well that could get fucked. 

“Here we go…As promised, first class pot…Chris?”

Chris was standing very still in the middle of the lounge and as she stepped closer she could see his face had turned a ghostly white. She peered up and saw that his eyes were twitching. 

“Hey Chris?” Ellie gently tugged on the green sleeve of his letterman jacket. “Come on, you’re scaring me.”

But he wasn’t listening. God, was he having a seizure? A stroke? She needed to call an ambulance. The lights in the trailer began to flash and she felt the uneasy uncurling of terror in her stomach. 

“Chris, please wake up! I don’t like this, please! Say something!” 

When he began to rise up in the air, Ellie screamed and fell back on the floor. “Fucking hell!” 

This was no seizure or fucking stroke. Something really bad was happening. 

Chris began floating higher and higher. His whole face was blank - completely void of anything. Then he shot up and his whole body slammed against the trailer ceiling.

“CHRIS!” 

Ellie scrambled back and as she did so, she knocked the radio off the side and the volume rose. Some stupid country song began blaring out at full volume. 

Ellie was crying, screaming, gasping for breath. This was like something out of a horror film, only much much worse. She couldn’t just switch this off or hide under a blanket. 

She nearly threw up when Chris’ left arm suddenly snapped like it was no more than a twig. 

“No!” she sobbed. “Chris! Stop this please. I’m scared, please! WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!” 

(remember that well-honed ability to pick her fights? To choose to fight or fly?)

She clambered to her feet somehow and stepped up onto the coffee table, reaching up as high as she could to grab at him. She managed to wrap her hands around the lining of his jacket and she pulled with all her might, but he didn’t shift an inch. It was like playing tug-of-war against a mountain. 

“Chris!” she screamed. “Please! Stop this!”

And then - miraculously - the lights stopped flashing. 

And Chris awoke with a shuddering gasp, and fell right on top of her. 

Ellie’s legs buckled beneath her as they tumbled down onto the table with a loud crash. She landed right under him, catching the full brunt of his weight, and tried to ignore the searing pain that came from her ankle as she heaved herself up into a sitting position. 

She groaned as she managed to roll Chris over onto his back. His head was cradled in her lap. 

She pressed her fingers to his neck to feel for a pulse, but her hands were shaking too badly to feel anything. 

“Chris,” she whispered. “Please say something. Please don’t be dead. Can you hear me?” 

She was crying in earnest now and the tears disappeared into his hair. What the fuck was going to happen if he was…Oh my god. 

Chris then suddenly sat up with a cry of terror of his own, making her scream all over again. 

He looked fucking insane, rabid, horrified. His chest was heaving like he’d completed a mile long sprint and every line of his body was tense. His big blue eyes were wide and terrified as he looked around them, surveying the broken table and the radio which was still blaring out music. He seemed to need a moment to remember where he was. Then his eyes came to rest on her and he let out the biggest shuddering breath. He took in the tears racing down her cheeks, the flinch of pain when her ankle throbbed, the mix of raw fear and sweet relief that was written across her features like a goddamn neon sign. 

He was so close that she could feel his entire body shaking. 

And then he was holding her in a hug that was so tight she felt she might explode, but still she twisted her arms up around his shoulders and hung on just as tightly. She could feel him trembling as he cried and tried to convey (in stutteringly split phrases) what the hell just happened, but she couldn’t hear above the ringing in her ears. 

Eventually his grip loosened and she gasped for air. 

This couldn’t be brushed aside as a dream, a nightmare - he was clutching his broken arm to his chest. 

“Chris…you’re really alright?” she mumbled. She was still hanging onto his jacket in case he tried floating away again. “Help me up, need to ring an ambulance…or police…it’s not safe. Hold your arm steady, it’ll need looking at...I think my fucking ankle’s broken.” 

She could hear the faint noise of banging coming from nearby (was it the door?) but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Chris. 

Chris put a trembling hand to her cheek and wiped away some of the fresh tears with his thumb. 

“Ellie…” he croaked. His voice sounded rough like he’d been screaming too. “Ellie…this is going to sound mad…but something just tried to kill me, and I think you saved me.” 

**

A/N: Psss it's definitely The Party at the door, ready to spice it all up.

Quick notes:

Yeah Ellie is soft for Chris and he feels safe with her.

Had to tone back some of Ellie's habits because it wouldn't be realistic or safe for her to do some of the things guy-Eddie gets up to (though really it's not safe for him either).

I changed it so the cheerleaders are the worst. That's not a commentary on 'girls being bitchy' honestly, it's just the guy jocks wouldn't physically act on their resentment with a girl but the cheerleaders can and would.

Chrissy has shown she's a nice person and would feel protective of Eddie in danger - same thing for Chris only as a beefcake guy he's able to express this more literally (as in Ellie going to the Hideout).

Yeah the prototype for Ellie's fictional boyfriend is basically Eddie and vice versa.

Did I want them to kiss? Fuck yes, but maybe if I ever do a part 2. Didn't seem to flow here and really Chris wouldn't make that move. He'd be worried about taking advantage and is keenly aware how it looks that he's alone with Ellie in the trailer. It's about the implication, guys.

Girl Eddie would be scrawny and small, I think. Chrissy is super fit and strong because of her cheerleading so it makes sense Chris would be the same.

Do I like the Breakfast Club? Yeah, a bit, but that ending was crap.

I will not do a 'She's all That' with Ellie. Fuck no.

If I do a part 2 then forgive me for the shit switching of names. Honestly - what would Nancy even be?

[wishing-stones]

how did you come with the plot for r&r? its so nicely written and i constantly struggle with coming up with plots for multichapter fics despite desperately wanting to write one, so im wondering what your process was?

This one got long

Originally, the plot came about from a one-word prompt done for my oneshot collection. The story wound up with more background to it than I intended, and I decided to try and fill it out a little more. I'm kind of old-fashioned, so I used a plot diagram and slapped the important bits in there before thinking about what all else I'd like to put in a story like this.

Picking a villain was pretty easy; who is stupid and/or ballsy enough to pick a serious fight with Nightmare? XGaster, who could be made a main antagonist easily. He also has the added bonus of having a personal investment in fighting Nightmare (Cross) That gave me my conflict, and filling out what needed to happen between that and the resolution got handled too.

I knew I wanted this to be a reverse harem sort of dealio, so everyone needed to have their own arc with the reader. Everyone needed to have character development. To do that with Nightmare meant having to include his brother, and it gave me an avenue to do their resolution and also include the stars. Killer and Cross needed to come to an understanding, but after realizing that would only really come about after they go to blows, they needed a doctor.

Enter Baggs, who I have sort of stuck with the Bad Sanses for a hot minute in my own sort of personal plot space and in general thought mess. Formally including him would also just be a nice little self-indulgent thing since he's a seriously bastardly brainrot. It also gave me an excuse to work with him more, and, unintentionally though it was, introduce more people to him and his AU.

With the cast figured out, I could start placing little scenes I wanted to happen in the appropriate places on the timeline. As I wrote it, some things were off-the-cuff, some things popped up early, some things got nixed, and a whole character who I hadn't originally intended to include got included anyway due to source material being released between plotting and writing (XChara.)

The actual ending got pulled out of my ass because I only had a couple bulletpoints for the post-fight resolutions. There's a couple whump lines there I'm especially proud of.

That being said, there's a couple continuity errors that need fixing and places where things didn't quite go according to plan, so always be prepared to compromise and fix in post. I also never had a beta reader and basically went "FUCK IT WE BALL" with every update. (I did re-read them and fine-tune them after the initial write before posting them, but that's it.)

In short, the process was: 1. Come up with the initial idea 2. Refine the idea (Starting point, rising action, conflict, resolution) 3. Place the idea on a plot diagram 4. Figure out scenes you want and place them accordingly 5. Figure out how characters are (or are not) going to change and place the catalysts for the actions and where/when their arcs will conclude/when they have gone through their development 6. Pad it out-- make scenes connect and plot points make sense 7. Start writing. Keep writing. Pace yourself. You'll finish it eventually and with a roadmap, you'll always know where you're going. Feel free to embellish on the details and don't be afraid to move things up or back in the progression of the plot if it makes more sense while writing it.

And if there's anything I've learned from this, it's that:

a. Your audience is a lot nicer than you think they are. You are absolutely your own worst critic. b. Don't be afraid of mistakes, just go with the flow. You can edit things in post when you re-read it, even if that's after you posted it.

I really hope this helps!